BH 


BR  170  .A63  1915 
Angus,  Samuel,  1881-1943 
The  environment  of  early 
Christianity 


THE   ENVIRONMENT   OF   EARLY 
CHRISTIANITY 


STUDIES  IN  THEOLOGY 

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The  Environment  of  Early  Christianity 

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THE   ENVIRONMENT   OF 
EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 


BY 


V 


^ 


-^i^Wm 


iti^O 


yy  '  (       "Av   1  19] 

S.  ANGUS,  M.A.,  Ph.] 

PROFESSOR  OF  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND  HISTORICAL  THEOtQGy'     ,  5  -  QAt      •  <-^ 


ST.  Andrew's  college,  university  of  sydney 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

191S 


roiovfif  fio^ffov  Tepfia  firj  ri  TrpotrSdica, 

npiv  av  6(a>v  m  biddoxos  rav  aav  novoav 

<f>av^j  deXrjaT)  r'  els  dvavyrjrov  /xoXcii/ 

^Aiirjy^  KVf(f)ald  r'  d/i^t  Taprdpov  ^d6r). — AesCHTLUS. 

TO  yap  napdhevyp-a  Sci  vncpexeiv. — Aristotle. 


All  rig-kts  reserved 


VXORI  DILECTAE 

HVNO  LIBELLVLVM 

D  D  D 

AVCTOB 


PREFACE 

The  size  of  this  volume  has  been  determined  by  the  series 
to  which  it  belongs.  Scholars  familiar  with  the  period 
under  review  will  appreciate  the  constant  difficulty 
attending  the  selection  and  compression  of  the  material. 
It  was  impossible  without  unduly  increasing  the  footnotes 
to  make  sufficient  acknowledgment  of  indebtedness  to 
modem  authorities,  or  insert  a  tithe  of  the  mass  of 
citations  and  references  from  ancient  writers  accumulated 
during  the  preparation  of  the  work.  The  author  hopes 
in  a  later  volume  to  discuss  more  adequately  several 
themes  here  treated  very  succinctly,  together  with  other 
phases  of  this  most  interesting  epoch.  A  fairly  com- 
prehensive Bibliography  has  been  added,  which,  it  is 
hoped,  may  enhance  the  value  of  the  volume  for  students. 
Some  excellent  authorities  may  be  omitted,  the  list  being 
restricted  to  a  selection  of  the  books  consulted. 

The  author  is  greatly  indebted  to  Professor  H.  A.  A. 
Kennedy,  D.D.,  D.Sc,  of  New  College,  Edinburgh,  for 
valuable  assistance  in  revising  the  proofs.  Thanks  for 
helpful  criticism  are  due  to  Professor  Alexander  Souter, 
D.Litt.,  of  Aberdeen  University.  Grateful  mention  should 
also  be  made  of  the  late  Professor  James  Orr,  D.D.,  of 
Glasgow,  at  whose  suggestion  the  work  was  imdertaken. 

S.  ANGUS. 
Edinburgh,  Sth  June  1914. 


CONTENTS 


PAGC 

vii 


CHAP. 

Prefaci       

I.  Introductory 1 

II.  The    New    Era   beginning  with    Alexander   the 
Great  :     General     Characteristics    (300    b.c- 

300  A.D.) 6 

Philip  —  Alexander  —  His  services  to  Humanity. 
General  Characteristics  :  Change  and  Upheaval 
— Striking  contrasts— A  popularising  Age— Modern 
(in  social  habits,  comforts,  vices,  sentiment,  sorrow) 
Education — Universalism,  causes  and  extent  of — 
Intermixture  of  races — Syncretism — Individualism,  its 
causes  and  extent. 

III.  Social   and  Moral   Conditions   of    the    Graeco- 

RoMAN  World 30 

(A)  Social  CoTiditions  :  Fall  of  PoZis— Unintermittent 
wars — Economic  results  of — Increasing  number  of  Slaves 
—Destruction  of  the  Middle  Classei— Drift  to  City-life. 

(B)  Moral  Conditions :  Disturbing  circumstances — 
(a)  Dark  side  —  Slavery  —  Stage  —  Amphitheatre  — 
Position  of  women — Children — Abortion — Exposition 
and  Infanticide — Vice — Paiderastia — (6)  Better  side 
— Amelioration  of  slavery — Protests  against  gladia- 
torial shows — Domestic  virtue — Care  for  children — 
Protests  against  vice — Lack  of  moral  enthusiasm  in 
Pagan  Religion — Man's  moral  consciousness — Practical 
•ense — Oneness  of  humanity — Humaner  ideas— Kinship 
▼ith  the  Divine — Summary. 


THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 


OHi.F. 


IV.  Religious     Conditions     of     the      Graeco-Roman 

Period 68 

L  Religiou8  Destitution :  Fatalism — Need  of  religious 
authority — Taedium  Vitae — Pessimism. 

IL  Religious  Awakening :  Preaching — Spiritual  directors 
— Inwardness — Examples  demanded. 

ill  Demand  for  a  Universal  Religion :  Eastern  and 
Western  modes  of  salration — Imperial  cult — Oriental 
religions — Success  of. 

It.  Higher  Ideas  of  God  and  Man  :  Monotheism — Good- 
ness and  Providence  of  God — Moral  government — 
Dignity  of  man — Worth  of  the  soul — Immortality — 
The  mysteries. 
y.  Change  in  the  Religious  Spirit :  Emotionalism — 
Personal  religion — Character— Demand  for  Authority 
—  Nearness  of  the  supernatural  —  Mysticism  — 
Intermediaries — Asceticism — Prayer — Resignation 
— Suffering,  and  a  new  sensitiveness  to— Consolatio 
literature — Sense  of  sin — Union  of  morality  and 
religion  —  Religion  popularised  —  Demand  for  Re- 
demption-religions —  Expectancy  and  Messianic 
hope. 

V.  The  Jew 140 

Character — Mind  and  genius — The  Diaspora — Ubiquity 
and  power  of — Organisation — Wealth — Jews  in  high 
positions — Anti-Semitism — Services  to  ancient  world  and 
contribution  to  the  preparation  for  Christianity  :  Syna- 
gogue —  Schools  —  Successful  propaganda  —  Proselytes 
— '  God-fearers '  — The  Greek  Bible — Message  of  Israel 
— Pathfinder  for  Christianity. 

VL  The  Greek 164 

Character — Genius — Place  of  the  Greeks  in  history — 
Greek  thought — Early  Schools — Sophists — Socrates — 
Minor  Socratics  —  Plato  —  Aristotle  —  Post-Aristotelian 
philosophy  :    Stoicism  —  Epicureanism  —  Scepticism  — 


CONTENTS  xi 

OHAF.  FAOB 

Eclecticism  —  Neo  -  Pythagoreanism  —  Judaeo  -  Greek 
philosophy — Neo-Platonism — Summary. 

VII.  The  Roman 194 

Character — Genius — Rise  of  Empire — Mission  of  Rome. 

VIIL  The  Language  of  Christianity       ....      209 

First  international  tongues — The  Koine — Importance  of 
Greek  for  Christianity — Spread  of  Greek — Greek  in  the 
Diaspora — in  Palestine — Language  of  Jesus — The  Latin 
West. 

IX.  In  the  Fulness  of  Time 222 

Conyergence  of  East  and  West — Greatest  crisis  in 
history — Opportunity  for  Oriental  worships — Christi- 
anity oflFered  a  synthesis  in  the  Incarnation. 

BlBLIOQRAPHT •  .        227 

Index    . 236 


THE  ENVIRONMENT  OP  EARLY 
CHRISTIANITY 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

o6toi  dr'  dpx^J  irdvTa  6€oi  dvTjrour'  vxihti^av 
dXXa  XP^^V  i^roOyres  i<p€vpl<rKOVffir  Afieivov. 

Xenophanes.* 

*  He  (Messiah)  is  the  end  rather  than  the  product  of  prior  history  j 
does  not  so  much  get  meaning  from  it  as  give  meaning  to  it.* 
— Fairbaibn,  Christ  in  Modem  Theology,  p.  373. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  not  to  inquire  into  the  nature 
and  success  of  Christianity,  but  to  survey  the  ancient 
world  in  which  Christianity  was  first  planted,  reviewing 
the  conditions  which  would  favour  or  retard  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel,  and  to  present  a  brief  account  of  the  genius 
and  achievements  of  the  three  great  peoples  to  whom  the 
Gospel  was  first  offered.  We  shall  be  convinced  both  of 
the  need  and  the  preparedness  of  this  old  world  for  the 
Evangel ;  we  shall  see  that,  as  God  makes  no  mistakes  in 
history,  Christianity  came  indeed  'in  the  fulness  of  the 
time,*  and  that  the  Graeco- Roman  world  was  socially, 
poHtically,  Unguistically,  morally  and  rehgiously  in  a 
wonderful  state  of  preparation  for  the  Kingdom. 

We  cannot  estimate  aright  the  history  of  Christianity 
if  we  are  ignorant  of  its  antecedents,  nor  can  we  appreciate 
its  success  if  we  overlook  the  difficulties  it  had  to  encounter. 

1  Frag.  16  (MuUach,  i.  p.  103). 

A 


2        THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch 

Two  extreme  views  about  the  condition  of  the  ancient 
world  are  prevalent.  First,  some — e.g.,  B.  Bauer  ^  and 
J.  A.  Farrer — represent  the  ancient  world  as  producing 
Christianity  automatically.  Christianity  is  merely  a  result 
of  evolution  and  human  progress.  It  is  simply  the  juxta- 
position of  elements  already  to  hand  without  supernatural 
intervention.  The  founders  of  the  new  faith  were  astute 
enough  to  put  some  good  old  things  together  to  make  a 
brand  new  article.  The  united  ideals  of  Jew,  Greek,  and 
Roman  gave  to  the  world  Christianity.  This  distorted 
view  contains  a  partial  truth  which  deserves  attention. 
The  same  God  who  planned  the  Gospel  prepared  the  soil. 
Men  were  His  servants  and  instruments  then  as  now, 
whether  conscious  of  it  or  not.  The  Gospel  could  not 
come  without  antecedents,  and  could  not  succeed  if  men's 
hearts  were  not  ready  to  receive  it. 

Others — and  these  the  majority — would  have  it  that 
Christianity  is  wholly  new  and  in  absolute  antithesis  to 
the  world  in  which  it  appeared.  The  ancient  world 
laboured  and  brought  forth  nothing :  the  only  contri- 
bution it  made  to  the  Gospel  was  entirely  negative — 
dire  need.  Everything  excellent  came  only  with  the 
Christian  era,  God  having  given  the  ancient  peoples  over 
to  their  own  carnal  hearts.  These  scholars  see  only  the 
vices  and  immorahties  of  the  worst  classes  of  pre-Christian 
society — such  classes  as  still  survive  in  our  Christian 
civiHsation.  This  picture  of  the  ancient  world  is  painted 
exclusively  in  the  dark  colours  of  the  plays  of  Plautus, 
the  satires  of  Juvenal,  the  unworthy  verses  of  Ovid  and 
Martial,  the  inanities  of  Petronius,  the  bitterness  of  Tacitus, 
and  the  mystic  sensuaHty  of  Apuleius.  The  worst  side 
of  antiquity  is  deHberately  compared  with  the  best  side  of 
Christianity.  Moral  monstrosities  Uke  a  CaHgula  or  a 
Nero  are  placed  beside  a  John  or  a  Paul.     The  fact  is  over- 

1  Christus  u.  d.  Cdsaren,  p.  149  f.  Bauer  attributes  more  of  Christianity 
to  Seneca  than  to  Jesus. 


L]  INTRODUCTORY  3 

looked  that  the  same  God  was  working  in  human  history 
before,  as  after,  the  Christian  era,  reveahng  Himself  as 
men  felt  their  need  of  Him  and  were  able  to  comprehend 
Him.  The  best  method  of  magnifying  Christianity  is 
not  the  belittling  of  Heathenism.  To  secure  the  right 
perspective  Christianity  must  be  viewed  not  only  in 
contrast  but  also  in  contact  with  its  environment. 

To  appreciate  Christianity  or  Paganism  we  must 
approach  them  with  an  open  mind,  if  not  with  sympathy. 
We  should  contrast  the  ideals  of  Paganism  with  those  of 
Christianity.  We  may  admit  that  God  is  the  God  of  the 
heathen  as  of  the  Christians  without  admitting  that 
Christianity  is  only  on  a  par  with  all  its  predecessors. 
We  must  remember,  too,  how  easy  it  is,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  over-estimate  past  epochs  by  reading  ideas  of  our  own 
period  and  reHgion  into  the  records  of  the  past ;  as  also, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  fail  to  do  justice  to  old  Gospels  by 
unfamiHarity  with  their  language.  Thus — out  of  scores 
of  examples — Seneca's  thought  that  gifts  given  '  in  succour 
to  infirmity,  poverty,  or  shame,  should  be  given  silently, 
with  no  other  witness  than  the  giver  and  the  recipient,' 
is  more  famiUar  to  us  as  '  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
thy  right  hand  doeth.'  Or  '  many  are  called  but  few 
chosen,'  is  better  known  than  '  many  are  the  wand-bearers 
but  few  the  mystae.'  It  was  at  least  as  difficult  for  the 
pre-Christian  world,  as  it  is  for  us,  to  put  away  the  gods 
which  their  fathers  worshipped  on  the  other  side  of  the 
flood.  Likewise  the  mere  use  of  old  expressions  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  those  using  them  had  not  outgrown 
them.  Many  pagan  institutions  are  to  us  strange,  but  they 
once  represented  the  grasping  of  certain  ideas  by  which 
society  found  a  means  of  cohesion.  Many  old  formulae 
seem  empty,  yet  they  were  once  the  repositories  of  new 
thoughts  and  truths  crystallized  into  expression  so  as  not 
to  be  lost. 

In  our  day  we  cannot  dislocate  history  as  was  possible 


4       THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  [ch. 

a  generation  ago.  The  idea  of  evolution  and  progress  has 
too  firmly  laid  hold  of  our  minds.  The  unity  of  mankind 
and  the  unity  of  history  are  articles  of  faith.  History  is 
now  viewed  as  an  organism.  The  student  cannot  with 
impunity  dissever  Christianity  from  the  fabric  of  its  age. 
To  do  so  is  to  read  history  with  a  bias,  and  to  disregard 
God's  patience  in  the  task  of  educating  humanity  and 
drawing  it  to  Himself.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  does  not 
disdain  the  many  evangels  which  gladdened  men  and 
brought  joy,  consolation,  and  spiritual  support  to  thou- 
sands of  the  human  race  before  the  rise  of  our  faith  in 
history.  God  has  in  all  ages  been  Ustening  to  the  still 
sad  music  of  humanity ;  He  has  been  walking  with  and 
among  men  in  their  toil,  error,  and  waywardness/  stretch- 
ing out  His  hand  in  succour  as  men  have  in  all  ages 
stretched  forth  hands  to  God  for  help. 

* .  .  .  Feeble  hands  and  helpless 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 
Touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  darkness 
And  are  lifted  up  and  helped.* 

The  human  soul  has  always  been  the  '  lyre  for  the  plectrum 
of  the  Paraclete.'  We,  the  heirs  of  all  the  ages,  have 
entered  upon  the  rich  inheritance  of  the  toils  and  tears, 
the  victories  and  defeats,  the  experiments  and  fears  of  our 
predecessors. 

*  Our  fathers  watered  with  their  tears 
The  sea  of  time  whereon  we  sail ; 
Their  voices  were  in  all  men's  ears 
Who  passed  within  their  puissant  hail  .  .  . 
The  suff'rers  died — they  left  their  pain  : 
The  pangs  which  tortured  them  remain.' 

We  must  therefore  raise  our  hearts  in  gratitude  to  those 
who  were  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  a 

1  'For  they  peradventure  err,  seeking  God  and  desirons  t«  find  him.' 
-Wisd,  of  Sd.  xiil  6, 


L]  INTRODUCTORY  5 

period  of  enlightenment  that  they  never  saw  and  perhaps 
never  dreamed  of — to  those  who  desired  to  see  our  day 
but  whose  eyes  God  closed.  The  history  of  man's  rehgion 
comes  in  '  many  portions  and  in  many  manners.'  The 
efforts  of  many  generations — not  unaided  by  God — 
prepared  the  way  of  the  Lord. 

The  study  of  comparative  rehgions  has  given  rise  to  a 
degree  of  tolerance,  and  enabled  us  to  appreciate  God's 
gradual  unfolding  of  His  purpose  and  His  self-revelation 
to  different  ways  of  thinking.  There  is  no  violent  caesura 
in  history.  All  portions  of  mankind  do  not  move  forward 
with  equal  pace  :  the  history  of  a  period  may  reveal  a 
retrograde  movement.  Evolution  does  not  always  connote 
progress.  We  must  make  allowance  for  the  proneness  to 
degeneration  in  human  nature.^  But  because  we  beUeve 
in  God  we  beUeve  His  world  has  been,  and  is,  progressing 
toward  the 

'  one  far-off  divine  event, 
To  which  the  whole  creation  moves.* 


1  Cf.  Ramsay,  Cities  of  St.  Paul,  pp.  10-78.  On  p.  17  he  says,  'wherever 
evidence  exists,  with  the  rarest  exceptions,  the  history  of  religion  among 
men  is  a  history  of  degeneration.' 


6       THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [oh. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  NEW  ERA  BEGINNING  WITH  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT : 
GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  (300  B.C. -300  A.D.) 

dWa  Koivbs  Beddev  apfioarrfs  Kal  diaWaKTrjs  ruiy  8\<i)v  vopil^iov,  oi)j  r^ 
\6y(fi  fxr]  avuTJye  rols  SwXois  /Siafo/ieros,  eli  rh  avrh  aweveyKCiv  to.  iravTa- 
X^^ev,  ibffirep  ev  Kparrjpi  (jyiXoTijalip,  fii^as  Toi>s  jSt'ovs  Kal  to.  ijOij,  Kal  roi/s 
yd^ovs  Kal  diairias,  irarplSa  fihv  rr}v  oiKOv/xhrjv  irpoaiTa^ev  ifye'icrdai  wdvrai 
.  .  .  ffvyyeyeU  de  Tovs  dya6oi)S,  dWo(p6\ovs  Si  roiii  irovr^poi^.  T^Se'EXX?;- 
VLKbv  Kal  ^ap^apLKOv  fxr)  x^atiidL  /xTjdi  ttAtt;  fitjSi  aKivaK-g  fxrjSk  KdvSvt 
iiopl^€(.v,  dXXA  Tb  fikv'EWrjviKbv  dpeTrJTb  Si  ^ap^apLKbv  KaKiq.  TCKfjialpeadai. 
Plutarch  (?),  De  Fort.  Alex.,  i.  6  (329  c.d.). 

Gerade  die  reichere  und  freiere  Ausgestaltung  der  Lebensformen 
und  Kulturbedingungen,  die  Fiille  geistiger  Interessen,  neben  einander 
gehender  oder  wechselnder  Stromungen,  die  komplizierte  Undurch- 
sichtigkeit  des  Gefiihlslebens  unterscheiden  ihn  von  der  friiheren  Zeit 
und  nahem  ihn  der  modernen  an.  'Die  hellenistische  Zeit  ist  ganz 
und  gar  anders  kompliziert  im  Aussen-  und  Innenleben.  Ihre  Seele 
ist  iiberaus  sensitiv,  gleich  empf anglich  f iir  die  weichste  Sentimentalitat 
und  den  harten  Egoismus,  fiir  romantische  Schwarmerei  und  das 
Trotzgeftihl  einer  neuen  Welt.  Sie  ist  mit  einem  Worte  modem.* 
*  In  dem  geistigen  Antlitz  des  Hellenismus  sind  zwei  Hauptziige,  die 
mit  einander  unvereinbar  scheinen.  Das  eine  ist  die  Freude  an  der 
Representation,  dem  Pomp  und  Schmuck,  der  erhabenen  Pose :  darin 
liegt  das,  was  wir  an  ihm  barock  nennen  diirfen.  Daneben  aber  steht 
die  intimste  Freude  an  der  weltverlorenen  Stille,  dem  Frieden  des 
engen  natiirlichen  Kreises,  am  Feinen,  Kleinen.  ...  In  Wahrheit 
wurzelt  beides  in  der  befreiten  Individualitat,  die  sich  je  nach  den 
Lebenszielen  sehr  verschieden  aussert.'  (Wendland  and  Wilamowitz, 
in  Wendland,  Helleniat-rom.  Ktdtur,  pp.  23-4.) 

There  are  no  violent  breaks  in  history ;  yet  it  naturally 
falls  into  eras.  Each  epoch  is  not  disconnected  with  the 
preceding  ;  it  exhibits  new  phenomena,  or  old  phenomena 
in  new  prominence.  As  the  mass  of  men  do  not  think  for 
themselves,  history  revolves   largely  round   outstanding 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  7 

personalities.  Never  again  have  father  and  son  *  appeared 
in  two  such  great  men  as  Philip  and  Alexander. 

Philip  by  adroitly  taking  advantage  of  Greek  quarrels 
and  lack  of  foresight,  by  flattery  and  bribery,  first  secured 
his  power  at  home  and  then  entered  Greece  as  arbiter  of 
Greek  wranglings  and  champion  of  the  Delphian  god. 
On  the  field  of  Chaeroneia  (338  B.C.)  Athens  and  Thebes 
lost  what  Athens  and  Plataea  had  won  at  Marathon. 
But  PhiUp  had  much  sympathy  with  Greece — especially 
with  Athens — and  desired  to  be  regarded  as  a  Greek  himself. 
To  compensate  the  Greeks  for  the  loss  of  their  autonomy 
and  to  make  them  oblivious  of  their  humiUation,  he  pro- 
posed an  expedition  against  a  common  foe — Persia.  For 
this  object  he  secured  his  appointment  as  generaHssimo 
at  the  convention  of  Corinth,  338  B.C.  In  the  same  year 
his  assassination  thwarted  the  design. 

Alexander — than  whom  no  one  has  better  merited  the 
title  '  Great '  * — became  heir  to  Philip's  preparations  and 
ambitions.  In  336  B.C.  he  was  chosen  generalissimo  at 
another  conference  of  Corinth.  After  some  successful 
northern  campaigns  and  the  ruthless  razing  of  Thebes 
in  335,  he  set  out  in  the  spring  of  334  with  an  army  of 
Greeks  and  Macedonians  against  Persia.  With  astonishing 
rapidity  he  fought  the  battles  of  the  Granicus,  Issus,  and 
Arbela,  and  conquered  Asia  Minor,  Phoenicia,  and  Egypt, 
penetrating  into  Bactria,  Sogdiana,  and  Northern  India. 
Only  the  exhaustion  of  his  troops  and  their  refusal  to 
advance  farther  arrested  his  course  by  the  river  Hyphasis. 
Death  overtook  the  great  conqueror  at  Babylon,  323  B.C., 
before  he  had  time  to  consohdate  his  dominions.  But 
his  work  could  not  be  entirely  undone  in  the  strife  of  the 
Diadochi  and  the  conquests  of  the  Roman  Republic. 

What   did   Alexander   accomphsh   for   humanity   and 

»  The  nearest  parallel  is  that  of  Frederick  William  i.  and  Frederick  the 
Great  of  Prussia. 
2  One  who  equally  merited  the  title  has  not  been  awarded  it — Caesar. 


8       THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  [ch. 

for  Christianity  ?  Conquest,  usually  the  synonym  for 
Alexander,  forms  the  least  of  his  achievements.  Briefly 
we  may  say  that  Alexander 

(a)  Shook  the  ancient  world  to  its  very  foundations,  and 
did  for  it  something  like  what  Napoleon  did  for  his  and  our 
age.  Men  hke  Alexander,  JuUus  Caesar,  and  Napoleon 
render  it  impossible  for  mankind  to  loiter  in  the  old  ruts ; 
they  compel  them  to  re-examine  their  dogmas,  test  their 
traditions,  and  ask  whether  society  can  still  be  held 
together  by  the  accepted  methods  of  cohesion.  All  great 
events,  hke  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  the  rise  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  the  discovery  of  America,  have  given  a 
new  impetus  to  the  spirit.  Alexander  compelled  the  old 
world  to  think  afresh. 

(h)  He  also,  hke  the  Greeks  before  him  and  the  Romans 
later,  arrested  the  Oriental  danger  which  threatened  to 
swamp  Western  civiUzation.  Greece  was  exhausted,  and 
Rome  had  not  yet  grown  to  her  might,  so  that,  but  for 
Alexander,  Persia  might  have  overwhelmed  Greece  and 
all  that  Greece  stood  for.  Then  the  struggle  between 
Roman  and  Carthaginian  would  have  been  too  late,  and 
Zama  might  have  had  a  different  issue  *  {v.  p.  173). 

(c)  Alexander  not  only  arrested  the  '  Yellow  peril ' 
and  the  Northern  Barbarian  peril  of  his  day  and  protected 
Greek  civihzation,  but  he  greatly  extended  Greek  culture, 
opened  an  unbounded  future  for  it,  and  inspired  it  with 
new  hfe.  He  did  not  destroy  the  Orient,  but  made  it 
easier  for  it  to  dehver  its  message,  while  he  greatly 
facihtated  the  growth  of  the  Western  spirit.  We  who  have 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Hellas  can  better  appreciate  Alexander's 
services  to  the  Hellenes  than  they  themselves. 

{d)  Alexander  commenced  the  task  of  reconciliation 
among  the  nations,  and  brought  East  and  West  into  those 
relations   of   interaction   which   have   never   since   been 

1  He  also  stayed  the  irruptions  of  northern  barbarians  into  the  Balkan 
peninsula. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  9 

broken,  and  which  have  benefited  both.  The  Greeks 
regarded  Alexander's  victories  as  an  opportunity  of 
wiping  out  old  scores  :  they  viewed  the  Orient  as  their 
spoil  or  as  a  field  for  their  exploitation.  Even  Aristotle 
advised  Alexander  to  behave  toward  the  Greeks  as  a  leader 
but  toward  the  non-Greeks  as  a  tyrant.  But  Alexander 
had  larger  thoughts  than  either  Greek  or  Macedonian  could 
appreciate  :  his  object  was  not  to  avenge  or  to  destroy. 
He  introduced  a  novel  feature  into  war  in  treating  the 
conquered  not  as  slaves  without  rights  but  as  men. 
He  offended  his  countrymen  and  the  Greeks  by  blotting 
out  the  distinction  between  conquered  and  conquerors.* 
As  a  means  of  amalgamation  he  tried  the  expedient 
of  intermarriages,  himself  marrjdng  Persian  princesses ; 
at  Susa,  in  325  B.C.,  100  of  his  officers  and  10,000  soldiers 
married  Asiatic  wives.  He  paved  the  way  for  a  larger 
humanity,  and  made  it  easier  for  men  to  believe  in  the 
unity  of  mankind.  The  brotherhood  of  man  could  now 
begin  to  be  reaHsed.  National  barriers  were  thrown  down  : 
racial  distinctions  were  disregarded. 

(e)  He  inaugurated  that  comprehensive  cosmopolitanism 
which  reached  its  apogee  in  the  Roman  Empire  {v.  p.  203). 


QENEBAL   CHARACTERISTICS    OF   THE    NEW   ERA 
(300    B.C.-300   A.D.) 

Change  and  Upheaval 

This  was  an  era  of  change  and  upheaval.  The  un- 
expected repeatedly  happened.  Events  outstripped 
theory.  Old  things  had  passed  away  and  all  things 
had  become  new ;  old  systems  were  gone ;  old  pre- 
judices swept  away.  It  is  difficult  for  us  looking  back 
through  the  long  vista  to  estimate  aright  the  perplexity 

1  Mahaffy  notices  '  the  studied  equality  of  the  three  great  races,  Persian, 
Greek,  Macedonian'  on  the  Sidonian  sarcophagus  {Survey,  p.  237). 


10      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

of  thoughtful  men  who  lived  in  the  empire  of  Alexander, 
who  witnessed  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  Greek  kingdoms, 
the  spread  of  Greek  culture,  the  rise  of  imperial  Rome, 
the  coUapse  of  the  ancient  faiths.  Men  were  driven  from 
their  old  moorings  and  had  not  yet  become  accustomed 
to  the  new  order.  They  were  cut  loose  from  the  city- 
state  and  from  Oriental  despotism  and  thrown  into  an 
empire  which  was  too  large  for  the  individual.  New 
world-centres  arose.  The  average  man  was  perplexed 
by  the  rapid  march  of  history.  In  the  social  confusion 
and  the  fall  of  long-estabUshed  systems  there  was  much 
calculated  to  unsettle  the  firmest  faith.  Such  transition 
periods  are  always  fraught  with  difficulty  and  danger. 

Striking  Contrasts 

The  Graeco-Roman  world  presents  the  greatest  contrasts 
and  extremes.  Every  age  may  be  so  characterised,  but 
this  holds  true  in  a  special  manner  of  these  centuries. 
Monotony  had  dropped  out  of  life.  The  homogeneousness 
of  nations  was  disturbed.  The  systems  which  had  held 
men  together  on  a  certain  equality  were  broken  down, 
and  the  gorgon  of  undisciphned  individuahsm  had  appeared 
on  the  scene.  The  old  and  the  new  were  consorting. 
Some  were  gazing  at  the  setting  sun ;  others  expectantly 
toward  the  rising  sun.  This  age  presents  none  of  the 
monotony  of  the  lethargic  Orient  nor  the  homogeneity 
of  mediaevalism.  Hence  so  many  contrary  and  even 
contradictory  statements  have  been  made  about  it  and 
supported  by  the  citation  of  abundant  authorities.  There 
appears  a  juxtaposition  of  several  worlds  :  the  world  of 
sensualism  and  luxury  among  the  upper  classes,  as  described 
by  Juvenal,  Tacitus,  Petronius  ;  that  of  despair  and  void, 
but  not  without  a  ray  of  hope,  as  in  the  pages  of  Cicero, 
Seneca,  and  Persius ;  that  of  wholesome  hterary  friendship 
exemplified  by  the  Plinies,  Cicero,  and  Plutarch  ;  that  of 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  11 

the  fervent  religious  brotherhoods  of  which  we  get  gUmpses 
in  ancient  authors  and  inscriptions ;  that  of  the  street- 
preacher  and  moral  lecturer  as  seen  in  the  better  class  of 
Cynics,  in  Dio  Chrysostom,  Musonius  Rufus,  Maximus 
of  Tyre ;  that  of  superstition  reflected  in  the  remains  of 
books  of  magic,  in  tablets  and  inscriptions,  and  many 
references  in  Suetonius,  Plutarch,  Aristides,  Lucian,  and 
Philostratus ;  that  of  the  Nihilism  of  Lucretius  ;  that  of 
quiet  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  as  in  Epictetus  and 
Marcus  AureHus ;  that  of  the  great  masses  whose  cares 
and  joys  have  been  brought  to  light  in  the  papyri.* 

A  Popularising  Age 

This  age  was  essentially  superficial.  It  was  noted  for 
breadth  rather  than  for  depth  :  ^  it  was  not  original, 
creative,  or  imaginative,  but  imitative  and  encyclopaedic. 
ReUgion,  philosophy,  art,  letters,  were  all  popularised. 
The  veneer  of  culture  was  widely  spread  but  not  always 
accompanied  by  its  essence.  The  art  of  the  age  is  not 
unworthy,  but  it  does  not  exhibit  the  exquisite  Peri- 
clean  perfection,  and  it  betrays  a  more  plebeian  taste. 
There  was  a  widespread  demand  for  objects  of  art,  with 
a  proportionate  lowering  of  the  standard.  It  was  an  age 
of  art-collectors  rather  than  of  artists.  The  half-cultured 
Roman  carried  off  things  which  he  understood  to  be  of  value 
partly  because  they  were  prized  by  those  whom  he  con- 
quered. The  conduct  of  Mummius  was  typically  Roman 
and  characteristic  of  the  age,  when,  having  consigned 
Corinth  to  the  flames,  he  stipulated  with  the  shippers  of 
its  precious  treasures  that  if  these  were  lost  or  damaged 
on  the  way  to  Rome  they  should  be  replaced  by  others 
*  equally  good.'     Even  the  Hterature  is  not  originaL    The 

1  Of.  Deissmann,  Light  from  the  Ancient  East,  chap.  ir.  et  passim. 
*  Froude,  in  his  essay  on  Julius  Caesar,  says :  *  The  age  was  saturated 
with  cant.' 


12      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

glorious  days  of  Greek  literature  lay  behind ;  the  Roman 
hterature,  not  excepting  the  Ciceronian  and  Augustan 
periods,  was  a  re-working  of  Greek  materials  and  repro- 
duction (of  a  high  order)  of  Greek  models.  '  The  rich 
hterary  amateur,  who  should  have  been  a  Maecenas, 
became  an  author  himself.'  ^  In  politics  the  masses  had 
asserted  themselves.  They  constituted  a  perpetual  pro- 
blem and  menace  to  statesmen  of  the  Republic,  and  were 
a  large  factor  in  setting  up  the  Empire  under  which  they 
were  fed,  petted,  and  amused.  Philosophy  was  popularised 
as  far  as  possible.  Much  of  the  highest  thought  of  Plato 
had  filtered  down  among  the  masses,  and  a  smattering  of 
philosophy  was  an  essential  part  of  an  ordinary  hberal 
education.  The  post-Aristotelian  philosophies  tended  to 
become  rehgious  and  to  take  their  share  in  meeting  the 
general  demand  for  moral  guidance.  But  refigion  above 
all  else  assumed  a  popular  form.  Philosophy  was  the 
only  rehgion  of  the  educated,  and  the  masses  were  no 
longer  interested  in  any  state  cult.  Popular  preachers  and 
lecturers  were  in  demand — an  ancient  Salvation  Army. 
The  people  had  recourse  to  the  new  gods  brought  in  from 
the  Orient.  The  Roman  state  was  constantly  compelled 
in  religious  matters  to  make  concessions  to  popular 
demands  in  introducing  more  emotional  and  individual 
methods  (e.g.  supplicationes,  lectisternia,  ludi),  and  in 
gradually  recognising  foreign  cults  to  which  the  people 
were  devoted.  Even  the  strong  hand  of  Rome  governed 
by  astutely  yielding  to  the  populace. 

Its  Modernness 

This  Graeco-Roman  age  must  strike  the  student  as  very 
modem.  In  reading  its  records  we  often  forget  we  are 
separated  from  these  ancients  by  so  many  centuries.  As 
evidence  of  this  modernness  we  feel  ourselves  more  at  home 

1  Dill,  Rom..  Society,  p.  95. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  13 

in  the  era  commencing  with  Alexander,  and  can  more  readily 
sympathise  with  the  succeeding  centuries  than  we  can  with 
mediae vaUsm.  There  is  much  of  the  philosophy  of  Plato 
and  Aristotle  that  seems  intended  for  another  order  of 
things,  whereas  the  philosophies  that  interpreted  the 
world  to  the  Graeco-Roman  age — though  less  original  and 
less  interesting — deal  with  more  famihar  topics.  Their 
problems — philosophical,  reUgious,  economic,  social  and 
pohtical — touch  us  of  a  later  era  very  closely. 

The  social  habits  are  very  rnod^m  :  to  travel  for  business, 
pleasure,  or  education  was  quite  usual.  The  nouveaux  riches 
were  as  objectionable  then  as  now.  The  international  ex- 
change of  wares,  manners,  thought,  and  rehgion  was,  more 
especially  in  the  Roman  Empire,  as  active  as  at  the  present 
day.  Facihties  of  communication  were  more  abundant 
than  at  any  time  prior  to  the  invention  of  steam  and  the 
era  of  railway  construction.  From  the  second  Punic  war 
women  became  as  prominent  almost  as  in  our  suffragette 
age.  Their  virtues  and  weaknesses  were  much  the  same. 
They  loved  display  and  fine  dresses  ;  they  were  susceptible 
to  flattery.  Ovid  tells  how  they  came  to  be  seen  rather  than 
to  see  :  *  spectatum  veniunt :  veniunt  spectentur  ut  ipsae.' 
The  excavations  at  Pompeii  show  how  ladies  attempted 
to  escape  with  their  jewels  and  valuables,  and  have  un- 
earthed sad  memorials  of  mother  love.  Programmes  of 
amusements,  especially  of  the  amphitheatre,  were  in  regular 
use.  Gossip  and  slander  formed  part  of  society's  daily  food. 
There  was  the  same  reverence  then  as  now,  even  among 
roues  like  Ovid,  for  the  innocence  of  girlhood.  Manages 
de  convenance  were  in  vogue  with  similar  results.  Culti- 
vated men  were  alarmed  at  a  degraded  popular  taste  as 
among  ourselves,  when  an  ephemeral  musical  comedy  will 
draw  a  packed  house  for  a  whole  season  while  an  excel- 
lent cast  of  Shakespeare  is  Uttle  appreciated.  So  with 
the  later  Greeks  and  Romans  mimes  and  farces  and  even 
coarser  amusements  ousted  drama  possessing  any  moral 


14      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [en. 

purpose.  There  were  '  star '  actors  like  Aesopus  and 
Roscius,  and,  in  Pompeii,  Actius.  Fashions  also  came 
and  went.  Shrews  were  not  unknown,  like  Cicero's  wife 
Terentia,  or  his  brother  Quintus's  wife  Pomponia.  Com- 
plaints come  to  us  of  the  intractableness  of  the  gentler 
sex.*  The  habits  of  sweethearts  present  no  novelty  :  they 
scribbled  on  walls,  used  endearing  epithets,  prized  keep- 
sakes, became  maddened  with  jealousy.  Many  were 
cruel  as  the  Lesbia  of  Catullus.  Social  life  (apart  from 
pohtical)  was  at  least  equally  absorbing  in  the  late 
Repubhc  and  in  the  Empire.  The  dinner  hour  was 
pushed  later  and  later  into  the  evening. 

Comforts_wgre_generally  more  accessible  in  the  Graeco- 
Roman  age  than  until  the  past  half-century.  There  were 
more  accommodations  for  out-of-door  life,  and  abimdant 
lounging  places.  Public  baths  with  an  amazing  equip- 
ment (sometimes  with  a  Ubrary)  are  found  in  every  town, 
however  small.  In  Timgad  one  finds  several  pubhc  baths 
in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation.  The  pubHc  con- 
veniences of  Timgad  are  superior  to  those  in  some  modem 
European  cities.  '  Taking  the  cure  *  at  celebrated  bathing- 
places  and  natural  springs  was  an  ordinary  occurrence ; 
we  have  still  ample  evidence  from  places  hke  Hammam 
R'lhra  near  the  desert,  Wiesbaden  and  Bath.  As  we  read 
in  the  train,  travellers  could  read  and  write  on  their 
journeys  :  the  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  is  familiar. 
In  the  better  houses  there  was  a  bathroom,  and  sometimes 
several.  The  hot-air  system,  re-discovered  in  America, 
was  known  to  the  Romans  in  the  first  century  B.C. 
Dentistry  was  practised  :  Cicero  tells  us  incidentally  of 
gold-filled  teeth.       '  Every  highly  educated  man  at  this 

1  Metellus  Macedonicus  said  in  a  public  speech  :  '  If  we  could  do  without 
wives  we  should  be  rid  of  that  nuisance  ;  but  since  nature  has  decreed 
that  we  can  neither  lire  comfortably  with  them,  nor  live  at  all  without 
them,  we  must  e'en  look  rather  to  our  permanent  interests  than  to  a  passing 
pleasure'  (Aul,  Gel.,  A.  N.,  i.  6).  Plutarch  has  preserved  the  famous  saying 
of  the  elder  Cato :  •  All  men  rule  over  women  ;  we  Romans  rule  over  all  men, 
and  our  wives  rule  over  us.' 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  15 

(Cicero's)  time  owned  a  library  and  wished  to  have  the 
latest  book.'  Men  went  to  their  friends'  Ubraries  to  consult 
books,  as  Cicero  to  that  of  Lucullus  at  Tusculum.  It  was 
also  an  era  of  public  Hbraries.  On  the  way  from  the  modem 
museum  in  Timgad  to  the  forum  there  stands  on  the  left 
hand  the  Timgad  '  Carnegie '  Hbrary,  with  a  large  slab 
inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  donor  and  the  cost.  In 
large  cities  Uke  Alexandria  there  were  university  Ubraries. 
Banking  business  was  highly  developed  :  one  eould  deposit 
at  interest ;  there  were  also  current  accounts  with  some- 
thing hke  our  cheque  system.  Letters  of  credit  and  bills 
of  exchange  were  negotiated,  so  that  a  traveller  was  not 
obhged  to  carry  much  money  on  his  person.^ 

The  vices  of  the  age  wear  a  modem  garb  :  luxury, 
extravagance,  selfishness,  gambUng,  the  mad  rush  to 
acquire  wealth.  Divorce  was  frightfully  common  in  the 
upper  classes.  Idleness  was  the  favourite  occupation  of 
the  two  extremes  of  society.  There  was  a  disinclination 
on  the  part  of  society  men  and  women  towards  marriage, 
and  race-suicide  reached  such  proportions  as  to  become 
a  grave  concern  to  statesmen.  The  restlessness  and  fever 
of  our  modem  life  invaded  their  Hves,  but  they  could  plead 
more  extenuating  circumstances  than  we. 

In  many  other  details  the  records  astonish  us.  Many  of 
the  pap3rri  documents,  if  dates  and  names  were  changed, 
would  read  as  if  of  yesterday.  There  were  comic  artists 
who  anticipated  Punch,  and  cartoonists.  One  has  repre- 
sented Nero  as  a  butterfly  driving  the  fiery  steeds  of  the 
chariot  of  state.     Men  bet  on  their  favourite  horses.     The 

1  *  In  such  matters  as  transit,  public  health,  police,  water  supply,  engineer- 
ing, building  and  so  forth,  Rome  of  the  second  century  left  off  pretty  much 
where  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria  was  to  resume.  The  mot'ern  city  of  Ronje 
is  obtaining  its  drinking  water  out  of  about  three  of  the  nine  great  aqueducts 
which  ministered  to  the  imperial  city.  The  hot-air  system  which  warms  the 
hotels  of  modem  Europe  and  America  was  in  general  use  in  every  comfortable 
villa  of  the  first  century  a.d.  Education  was  more  general  and  more  access- 
ible to  the  poor  in  a.d.  200  than  in  a.d.  1850.  The  siege  artillery  employed 
by  Trajau  wa»  as  effective,  probably,  as  the  cannon  of  Yauban'  (Stobart). 


16      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

Romans  seem  to  have  anticipated  Pitman  in  shorthand. 
There  was  an  imperial  post,  and  there  seem  to  have  been 
abundant  private  postal  systems,  so  that  news  travelled 
with  astonishing  rapidity.  Among  the  Romans  we  find 
the  precursor  of  our  daily  newspaper  without  the  editorials, 
the  acta  diurna,  giving  the  latest  news  and  gossip. 

Not  only  in  external  and  accidental  things  but  in  senti- 
ment it  hardly  seems  possible  that  we  can  be  separated  by 
so  many  centuries.  These  ancients  experienced  wants  simi- 
lar to  ours,  were  disturbed  by  similar  yearnings,  and  moved 
by  similar  joys  and  sorrows.  The  Hellenistic  Uterature, 
but  chiefly  the  Roman,  often  betraj^a  quite  modem  senti- 
ment. The  opening  of  Cicero's  De  Legibics  II.  reveals  a  love 
of  native  place  with  its  famiUar  seats  and  charming  walks. 
The  love  of  landscape  and  of  nature  was  as  pronounced 
among  the  Romans  as  among  ourselves.  No  ancients  took 
the  same  dehght  in  flowers.  The  Roman  could  not  rest  in 
his  domus  aeterna  if  no  kindly  hand  strewed  violets  or  roses 
in  spring.  And  in  their  small  houses,  as  in  Timgad,  it  is 
pathetic  to  see  with  what  care  they  surrounded  themselves 
with  flowers.  The  enjoyment  of  nature,  which  became 
prominent  in  the  Alexandrine  poetry,  is  still  more  pro- 
nounced in  Roman  poetry,  as  in  Virgil,  Lucretius,  Horace, 
and  CatuUus.  '  The  passion  of  love  .  .  .  became  a  very 
powerful  influence  in  actual  Ufe  during  the  last  years  of 
the  Repubhc  and  the  early  years  of  the  Empire.  It  is 
in  Latin  Hterature  that  we  are  brought  most  near  to  the 
power  of  this  passion  in  the  ancient  world.'  *  The  appetite 
for  friendship  and  companionship  was  keen. 

It  is  in  their  sorrow  that  these  ancients  are  most  modem. 
The  tombstones  in  the  Ceramicus  tell  the  same  tales  as 
those  in  our  churchyards.  We  find  in  the  heart  of  Asia 
Minor  the  rustic  stonemason  burning  with  warm  human 
tears  memorial  letters  into  the  cold  stone.  On  not  a  few 
tombs  the  broken-hearted  parents  j^eam  for  the  patter  of 
1  Sellar,  Rom,  Poets  of  the  Repub.,  pp.  19,  376. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  17 

little  feet,  the  widow  longs  for  reunion,  the  dead  plead  for 
the  sympathy  and  remembrance  of  the  hving.  It  is  not 
the  sorrow  which  is  modem  but  the  way  in  which  it 
expresses  itself.  Men  were  no  longer  willing  to  seek  the 
anodyne  of  their  own  grief  in  the  common  grief  or  welfare 
of  the  community.  A  more  atomistic  and  personal  way 
of  looking  at  things  had  arisen :  the  individual  heart 
clamoured  for  what  the  individual  heart  had  lost. 


Education 

Education  was  general ;  more  so  than  in  some  Conti- 
nental countries  at  the  present  day.  There  were  faciUties 
for  popular  education  in  the  Roman  Empire  to  an  extent 
unknown  in  our  land  till  the  Victorian  era.  The  papyri 
show  us  how  common  writing  was  even  among  ordinary 
folk.  Greek  tutors,  professors,  and  private  chaplains  were 
in  extraordinary  demand.  The  basis  of  Graeco-Roman 
education  was  Greek  culture.  The  Romans  sent  their  sons 
to  the  University  of  Athens  to  finish  their  education.  The 
young  Cicero  studied  there,  and  received  from  his  father 
some  of  the  letters  which  we  read  to-day.  Horace  was 
also  a  student  at  Athens.  Philo  knew  the  city.  There 
philosophers  of  every  school  discussed  their  Weltan- 
schauungen.  Philo  says  that  Athens  was  to  Greece 
what  the  pupil  is  to  the  eye  or  reason  to  the  soul.  It 
was  the  mother  of  universities  in  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
Tarsus,  and  elsewhere.  The  Jews  were  aUve  to  the 
necessity  of  Jewish  education  amid  the  power  and  fasci- 
nation of  Hellenism.  In  every  city  alongside  the  syna- 
gogue they  had  their  schools  and  hbraries. 

Teaching  was  a  recognised,  honourable,  and — in  contrast 
to  our  time — a  lucrative  profession.  It  is  quite  common 
in  the  inscriptions  of  Asia  Minor  to  read  of  teachers  who, 
having  amassed  fortunes,  bestow  princely  gifts  on  their 
native  towns.     Academic  titles  hke  'philosopher ,  doctor, 

B 


18      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY    ch. 

sophist,  analogous  to  our  M.A.  or  D.D.,  were  in  vogue  and 
often  inscribed  on  tombstones.  Alexandria  was  the  centre 
of  learning  in  the  Roman  Empire  :  it  was  not  so  much  a 
teaching  university  as  a  seat  of  research.  The  museum  and 
library  of  some  700,000  volumes  attracted  scholars  from 
all  countries.  Though  Ubraries  were  known  from  the  days 
of  Ashurbanipal  (seventh  century  B.C.),  it  was  only  in  the 
Koman  period  that  they  were  estabUshed  in  every  city  of  im- 
portance. After  the  destruction  of  the  Alexandrian  Ubrary 
in  the  siege  under  Caesar,  the  Hbrary  of  the  Serapeum  came 
to  have  the  foremost  place  there.  The  library  of  Pergamum, 
founded  by  Attains  i.  and  enlarged  by  Eumenes  ii.,  of 
200,000  rolls,  was  carried  to  Alexandria  by  Antony. 
Pergamum  and  Alexandria  created  a  demand  for  reading 
faciUties  ;  we  may  infer  from  Polybius  that  in  the  second 
century  B.C.  hbraries  were  fairly  common.  Asinius 
PoUio  and  Augustus  inaugurated  the  public  hbrary  system 
in  Rome.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  hbrary  of 
Timgad.  Besides,  private  collections  were  quite  usual, 
such  as  those  of  Cicero,  Aemihus  Paullus,  and  Lucullus. 
In  Herculaneum  an  Epicurean  collection  has  been  dis- 
covered. Books  were  numerous  and  cheap  because  of 
the  use  of  convenient  writing  material  and  the  facihties 
of  production  by  slave  copyists.  The  two  favourite 
materials  were  papyrus  and  parchment  or  vellum,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  leather.  Parchment,  according  to  Varro, 
owes  its  origin  to  the  rivalry  between  the  Egyptian  and 
Attahd  kings  as  regards  their  respective  hbraries.  It  was 
first  manufactured  under  Eumenes  n.,  after  Ptolemy  had 
prohibited  the  export  of  papyrus.  Ostraca  (potsherds)  were 
used  by  the  poorer  folk  in  Egypt.  Wax  notebooks  were 
carried  for  ordinary  use.  But  the  increasing  numbers  of 
hterary  slaves  was  the  chief  reason  of  the  enormous  spread 
of  books.  One  slave  read  and  others  wrote  to  his  dicta- 
tion. The  demand  for  books  gave  rise  to  book-seUing  as  a 
separate  trade.    *  Atticus,  the  first  person  who  is  known  to 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  19 

have  undertaken  the  multiplication  and  sale  of  books  on 
a  large  scale,  had  numerous  rivals.  Under  Augustus  at 
the  latest,  the  book-trade  in  Rome  was  a  business  by  itself, 
and  soon  after  in  the  provinces.'  * 

Universalism 

A  very  striking  feature  of  this  age  was  its  ever-increasing 
universahsm,  beginning  under  Alexander  and  culminating 
in  the  Roman  Empire.  Various  causes  contributed  toward 
cosmopolitanism. 

(1)  There  was  what  we  might  call  the  moral  necessity 
of  a  reaction.  This  arose  partly  from  the  disgust  engen- 
dered by  the  long  tyrannical  rule  of  exclusivism.  Men 
had  missed  the  via  media  between  a  true  nationaUsm  and 
an  indifference  to  national  interests.  Exclusivism  had 
worked  havoc  in  the  Greek  world  ;  a  more  excellent  way 
was  now  sought.  In  the  Oriental  world  despotism,  Uke 
Russian  absolutism,  rendered  men  insensible  to  patriotism. 
There  is  another  side  to  this  moral  necessity  :  God  has  so 
endowed  the  nations  that  each  is  the  complement  of  the 
other,  and  only  in  co-operation  can  they  truly  forward  the 
work  of  humanity.  The  ancient  nations  were  left  for  a 
time  each  in  its  exclusive  school  to  develop  its  particular 
aptitudes.  Each  worked,  as  it  were,  behind  closed  doors  ; 
then  the  doors  of  the  workshops  were  thrown  open  and 
inspection  invited.  Nations  began  to  compare  notes,  to 
teach  their  lessons,  and  to  inquire  into  what  others  pro- 
fessed to  teach.  Life  is  many  sided,  and,  for  a  rounded 
Ufe,  attention  must  be  drawn  to  all  its  phases. 

(2)  The  relative  superiority  of  the  peoples  blended  in 
the  Graeco-Roman  world.  There  were  four  competing 
civiUsations — Orientahsm,  Judaism,  Hellenism,  Romanism, 
none  of  which  could  by  itself  claim  an  absolute  empire  over 
man,  none  combining  completely  the  elements  necessary 

J  Friedlander,  Rom.  Life  and  Manners,  Eng.  trans.,  iii.  36. 


20     THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

for  all.  Had  there  been  only  one  superior  people  among 
inferior  peoples  there  would  have  resulted  a  universaUsm 
of  uniformity ;  but  these  four  types  of  mind  being  in 
competition,  a  universahsm  to  which  each  contributed  its 
best  was  inevitable.^ 

(3)  The  conquests  of  Alexander  and  his  hberal  policy  of 
rec .  ncihation,  inherited  by  the  Diadochi  and  consummated 
by  the  Romans  and  by  Christianity. 

(4)  Greek  thought,  especially  post-AristoteHan  {v.  ch.  vi.). 

(5)  The  spread  of  the  Greek  language.  Out  of  a  babel 
of  dialects  arose  a  Koine  or  lingua  franca,  which  became 
the  medium  of  intercourse  for  all  races  {v.  ch.  viii.). 

(6)  Another — less  potent — factor  was  the  enormous 
bodies  of  Greek  mercenaries  taking  service  in  foreign 
armies.  They  acted  as  a  solvent  of  Greek  nationaUsm, 
and  as  quasi-intermediaries  between  East  and  West.  They 
learned  tolerance  in  the  ranks,  and  after  their  term  of 
service  many  settled  among  ahen  populations. 

(7)  Commerce  is  one  of  the  strongest  international  bonds, 
and  in  the  post- Alexandrian  world  the  faciUties  for  commerce 
were  multipKed.  Colossal  sums  hoarded  up  by  Oriental 
despots  were  released  as  productive  wealth  or  as  means 
of  luxury  which  calls  forth  trading.  Larger  fields  were 
opened  for  speculation.  As  nations  come  to  know  each 
other  they  wish  to  procure  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
their  neighbours.  Soon  luxuries  become  necessities.  Before 
Japan  was  entered  by  the  West  she  was  indifferent  to 
international  trade  :  Western  merchants  have  persuaded 
China  and  Japan  that  they  need  many  things  which  they 
were  once  able  to  do  without.  Trade  drove  Jewish,  Greek, 
Roman  and  Sjrrian  merchants  to  settle  among  ahen  popula- 

1  An  illustration  may  be  giren  from  the  British  Empire.  When  the  British 
rule  among  a  people  like  the  aborigines  of  New  Zealand,  the  latter,  without 
literature  or  culture,  produce  no  effect  on  the  British  settlers.  Anglo-Saxon 
civilisation  spreads  uniformly  as  at  home.  But  when  peoples  like  the  British, 
Brahmins,  and  Parsees  live  together,  they  learn  from  and  teach  each  other,  and 
there  results  a  new  type  which  is  neither  British  nor  Indian  but  Eurasian. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  21 

tions.  *  These  merchants  occupied  themselves  with  the 
affairs  of  heaven  as  well  as  of  earth.'  The  spread  of  the 
Greek  tongue,  the  ever  larger  poUtical  unities  into  which 
men  were  being  fused,  the  '  majesty  of  the  Roman  peace,' 
Roman  roads  and  bridges,  the  gradual  extension  of  the  jus 
gentium,  gave  an  impetus  to  trade.  Moreover,  the  trading 
peoples  Uved  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
when  cleared  of  pirates  and  ruled  by  one  power  became 
a  safer  highway  of  commerce  than  it  has  been  up  to  the 
fourth  decade  of  last  century. 

(8)  Slaves  and  freedmen  were  among  the  most  potent 
missionaries  of  cosmopoUtanism  and  human  brotherhood. 
(See  ch.  iii.,  p.  54.) 

(9)  Religious  brotherhoods  and  guilds.    (See  ch.  iv.,  p.  9.) 

(10)  CosmopoUtanism  reached  its  acme  in  the  conquests 
of  the  Roman  Repubhc  and  the  administration  of  the 
Empire.  The  foundation  of  the  Empire  was  a  protest 
against  the  exclusivism  and  the  all-Roman  poHcy  of  the 
oligarchy.  The  whole  world  united  into  a  brotherhood 
and  under  the  rule  of  a  single  individual  was  the  dream 
of  JuHus  Caesar.  The  Roman  Empire  bestowed  peace  on 
a  war- weary  world,  and  energetically  commenced  the  task 
of  consoHdation. 


Intermixture  of  Races 

Partly  as  a  cause  and  partly  as  a  consequence  of  uni- 
versaUsm,  there  was  an  astonishing  intermixture  of  popula- 
tions, especially  in  the  Empire.  A  homogeneous  people 
was  hardly  to  be  found  except  in  secluded  regions.  All 
races  were  daily  touching  shoulders.  War,  forcible  de- 
portations, the  slave  trade,  commerce,  the  Hberal  poUcy 
of  rulers  contributed  to  this  intermixture.  Alexander  in- 
augurated the  scheme  of  estabhshing  centres  of  amalgama- 
tion. As  such  his  new  foundations  composed  of  Greeks, 
^Macedonians,  and  Persians  must  be  regarded,  as  truly  as 


22      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

military  colonies.  Alexandria  was  the  first  of  these  centres 
for  the  nations  and  for  East  and  West.  Such  an  experiment 
was  as  difficult  then  as  now,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the 
bloody  street  riots  in  Alexandria  and  Antioch.  Corinth, 
after  its  foundation  by  Caesar  44  B.C.,  speedily  fulfilled 
the  same  function.  There  were  the  veterans  of  Caesar, 
Hellenic  elements  from  the  surrounding  districts,  besides 
the  ever-present  Greek  adventurers.  The  New  Testa- 
ment and  inscriptions  testify  to  an  influential  Jewish 
element ;  and  the  Oriental  element  was  not  smaU,  judging 
firom  the  vogue  of  Oriental  worships.^  This  intermixture 
was  not  confined  to  capital  cities,  trading  and  banking 
centres,  commercial  seaports,  university  towns ;  it  ex- 
tended to  the  provinces  and  the  islands  of  the  Aegean. 
Delos  rose  in  prominence  as  Athens  dechned.  In  the 
second  centur}^  B.C.,  before  ships  pHed  direct  between  the 
East  and  Italy,  it  was  the  stopping-place  and  distributing 
centre  for  wholesale  merchants  ;  it  was  also  famous  for  its 
slave  market  where  as  many  as  10,000  slaves  were  sold 
by  auction  daily.  Deprived  of  its  freedom  after  the 
Macedonian  war  and  deserted  by  the  Greek  population, 
it  was  re-colonised  bj^  the  Athenians  and  Romans  who 
have  left  a  wealth  of  inscriptions.  Josephus  cites  a  decree 
oi  the  Delians  exempting  the  Jews  from  mihtary  service, 
and  such  favours  were  never  conferred  on  Jews  unless 
under  strong  necessity.  In  the  Mithridatic  war  Delos 
and  the  neighbouring  islands  were  ravaged  and  20,000 
ItaHans  slain.  In  141  B.C.,  the  Jews  of  Gortyna  (in  Crete) 
were  numerous  enough  to  secure  from  the  consul  Lucius 
the-  promise  of  protection  (I  Mace.  xv.  23).  Cyprus  was 
another  blending-place,  populated  by  Phoenicians,  Greeks, 
Persians,  Egyptians,  Romans  and  Jews.  In  the  insur- 
rection under  Trajan  the  Jews  are  said  to  have  massacred 
240,000  Gentiles.    In  Cjrrene,  Josephus  says,  one-fourth  of 

1  The  Acropolis  was  crownecl  with  a  temple  of  Aphrodite  (Astarte),   in 
whose  service  were  one  thousand  female  slaves. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  23 

the  population  was  Jewish.  Many  other  examples  of  the 
blending  of  different  races  could  be  adduced.  Under 
Mithridates  80,000  Roman  residents  in  Asia  are  said  to 
have  been  massacred.  One  of  the  Ptolemies  deported 
100,000  Jews  to  Libya.  In  the  insurrection  in  Britain 
under  Boadicea  70,000  Roman  colonists  perished. 

Syncretism 

As  corollaries  to  cosmopohtanism  we  find  sjmcretism — 
the  bringing  together  of  elements  once  thought  irreconcil- 
able— and  eclecticism — the  selection  by  the  individual  from 
every  quarter  of  whatever  he  required  for  the  practical 
needs  of  his  own  hfe.  These  two  forces  invaded  every 
department — art,  poKtics,  culture,  but  chiefly  philosophy, 
morahty,  and  rehgion.  Such  conditions  were  inevitable  after 
the  collapse  of  exclusive  systems,  in  the  mixture  of  popula- 
tions (such  as  may  be  found  in  the  United  States),  through 
hvely  intercourse,  and  the  demands  of  a  practical  and  popu- 
larising age,  and  as  the  result  of  the  competing  Welian- 
schauungen  of  one  people  eminent  for  rehgion,  another  for 
culture,  and  a  third  for  power.  The  proconsul  Gelhus  who 
invited  the  rival  philosophers  of  Athens  to  come  to  terms, 
offering  himself  as  arbiter,  was  typical  of  the  age.  Morahty 
and  rehgion  were  pecuharly  syncretistic.  '  In  the  sphere  of 
rehgion  a  sort  of  assimilative  or  encyclopaedic  frenzy  was 
abroad.'  The  conservative  Jews  did  not  escape ;  they  were 
Greeks  in  almost  everything  but  rehgion.  There  were  fre- 
quent conversions  from  Heathenism  to  Judaism,  and  not 
a  few  from  Judaism  to  Heathenism.^  The  Judaeo-Greek 
hterature  of  Alexandria  blended  East  and  West,  acting  as 

1  Schiirer,  iii.  135,  and  ol  ttoW  'lovSatot  of  (7.  I.  G.,  3148.  The  Hellen- 
ising  zeal  of  Jason  and  Menelaus  in  Jerusalem  found  much  sympathy. 
Nothing  was  more  syncretistic  than  magic,  in  which  the  Jews  excelled, 
especially  in  exorcism.  Cf.  Schiirer,  iii.  409  ff.  The  letter  of  Hadrian (?^ 
shows  to  what  a  dangerous  extreme  syncretism  v.'as  carried :  *  Nemo  illic 
archisynagogus  ludaeorum,  nemo  Samarites,  nemo  Christianorum  preshyter 
non  mathematicus,  non  haruspex,  non  aliptes."  Cf.  Deissmann,  Light  from 
the  Ancient  East,  pp.  250  ff.,  303  ff. 


24      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

a  solvent  for  both.  Egypt  has  been  termed  by  Kennedy 
'  the  rehgious  clearing-house  of  the  Hellenistic  world.'  ^  In 
the  Diaspora  the  expansive  tendency  of  Judaism  gained 
the  upper  hand  over  the  exclusive,  until  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  rivalry  of  Christianity  compelled 
Judaism  to  retreat  within  itself.  The  '  God-fearing ' 
heathen  were  half  heathen  and  half  Jews,  and  mediated 
between  both.  The  Greeks,  though  maintaining  their 
intellectual  and  cultural  supremacy,  were  influenced  by 
their  Roman  conquerors,  while  they  assimilated  the  rehgious 
thought  of  the  East.  The  Romans  were  the  greatest 
borrowers  and  adapters,  their  genius  being  of  a  mosaic 
order.  Their  religion  was  Uke  Joseph's  coat.  Oriental 
reUgions  were  pre-eminently  syncretistic.  Good  fellowship 
was  maintained  among  the  gods  of  various  nations,  the 
gods  keeping  pace  with  every  rapprochement  among  their 
worshippers.^  Alexander  attempted  neither  to  exterminate 
Oriental  deities  nor  to  compel  his  new  subjects  to  acknow- 
ledge Greek  deities.  The  conquered  and  the  conquerors 
in  the  Greek  kingdoms  and  the  Roman  Empire  proceeded 
to  identify  their  gods  on  the  principle  that  their  functions 
are  the  same,  the  names  alone  being  different  in  different 
languages.  The  strong  movement  toward  monotheism 
gave  an  impetus  to  this  practice.  The  list  of  the  names 
of  the  deities  so  assimilated  or  identified  is  a  long  one. 
Eclecticism,  which  was  prevalent  in  every  system  of 
philosophy  and  in  practically  every  writer,  made  its 
standard  what  is  common  to  all  men — the  immediate 
consciousness.^  After  Aristotle  no  original  system  was 
forthcoming,  so  that  men  fell  back  on  those  available  to 
cull  from  them  what  they  considered  appropriate,  and  to 
form  new  schools  with  membra  undique  collata.*    Syncretism 

1  St.  Paul,  p.  104.  2  Cf.  Usener,  Gotternamen,  p.  340. 

8  Zeller,  Eclectics,  p.  17. 

*  Christianity  appearing  in  this  syncretistic  world  could  not  escape  the 
contagion,  but  it  would  require  a  separate  volume  to  trace  to  what  extent 
historic  Christianity  is  syncretistic. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  25 

reached  its  apogee  at  the  close  of  the  second  century  a.d., 
and  during  the  third. 


Individualism 

The  last  feature  for  which  space  permits  mention  is 
perhaps  the  most  striking — individuaHsm ;  on  the  one  hand 
the  self-assertion  of  the  individual  in  opposition  to  the 
corporate  body,  and  on  the  other  the  reflection  of  the 
individual  upon  his  own  inner  life.  Individualism  arose 
from  the  ruins  of  nationaUsm  and  of  the  city-state. 
Ancient  patriotism  was  too  tyrannical:  it  was  an  ex- 
aggerated form  of  the  modem  Teutonic  theory  that  the 
state  is  the  end  and  the  individual  the  means  for  its 
aggrandisement,  as  opposed  to  that  of  Enghsh- speaking 
nations  that  the  individual  is  the  end  and  the  state  the 
means  for  his  self-reaUsation.  The  result  was  a  universal 
strike  against  collectivism.  Again,  there  was  at  that  time 
no  via  media  between  the  exclusiveness  of  the  polis  and 
atomistic  individualism.  Two  important  factors  were  lack- 
ing— a  true  nationaHsm,  and  that  domain  which  we  term 
*  society '  (in  which  we  are  influenced  by  our  fellows,  and  in 
turn  put  our  impress  upon  them).  Finally,  there  was  the 
emergence  of  a  strong  sense  of  individuahty  and  person- 
ahty  :  the  inwaird  problem  had  been  presented  and  the 
demands  of  selfhood  grew  clamant.  We  of  a  later  age  need 
regret  neither  the  apparent  tyranny  of  the  city-state  nor 
the  individuaHsm  which  wrecked  it :  both  were  attempts 
of  men  as  thoughtful  as  we  are  toward  self-reaHsation. 

Individualism,  being  the  reverse  side  of  universalism, 
invaded  Oriental,  Jewish,  Greek  and  Roman  life.  The 
Orientals,  whose  chief  bond  of  cohesion  was  the  despot- 
ism destroyed  by  Alexander,  when  the  central  restraining 
power  was  removed  went  each  his  own  way.  There  is 
a  soHtariness  in  Oriental  life  foreign  to  Western  society. 
The   Orientals   sought  satisfaction  in  religions  liberated 


26      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY    [cu. 

from  national  prejudices,  into  the  fellowship  of  which 
members  were  admitted  irrespective  of  race. 

Individualism  is  most  unexpected  among  the  Jews,  with 
whom  Jahweh  dealt  as  an  aggregate  and  not  as  individuals. 
But  the  advance  of  rehgious  experience  raised  the  question  : 
Can  Jahweh  leave  a  righteous  Israehte  unrewarded  when 
the  nation  forgets  Him  ?  Can  He  permit  a  wicked 
Israehte  to  escape  because  he  belongs  to  a  chosen  nation  ? 
Is  suffering  always  penal  ?  Must  innocent  children  suffer 
for  the  sins  of  the  fathers  ?  The  germs  of  the  later  indi- 
viduahsation  of  rehgion  are  found  in  the  great  pre-exilic 
prophets  Uke  Hosea  and  Amos,  who  shifted  the  emphasis 
from  ceremonial  to  ethics,  anticipating  the  truth  that 
rehgion  is  communion  with  God.  The  excuse  of  the  exiles 
was  an  arraignment  of  an  apparently  undiscriminating 
Providence — '  the  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the 
children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.'  Individuahsm  properly 
so  called  came  in  with  the  Exile  through  the  necessary 
re-examination  of  the  basis  of  rehgion  and  morahty,  and 
the  influence  of  Persia.  In  the  crisis  Jeremiah  discovered 
and  rescued  the  individual.  He  perceived  that  the 
proverb  '  the  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  chil- 
dren's teeth  are  set  on  edge'  destroyed  moral  responsibihty  : 
he  proclaimed  personal  responsibility,  '  every  one  shall  die 
for  his  own  iniquity.'  Rehgion  as  the  communion  of  the 
soul  with  God  cannot  be  harmed  by  any  national  calamity. 
Henceforth  the  individual  is  constituted  the  rehgious  unit 
in  place  of  the  nation  which  had  hitherto  been  so  regarded. 
'  Thus  through  Jeremiah  the  foundation  of  a  true  indi- 
viduahsm was  laid,  and  the  law  of  individual  retribu- 
tion proclaimed.'  ^  Ezekiel  carried  this  revolutionary  truth 
to  the  extreme.  He  proclaims,  '  all  souls  are  mine,'  and 
asserts  man's  moral  freedom  irrespective  of  his  own  past 
and  the  wickedness  of  his  family  or  nation  :  a  man's  will 
shapes  his  destiny  ;    retribution  is  strictly  individual,  and 

1  Charles,  Eschatology,  p.  61. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  27 

every  soul  receives  its  deserts  here  before  the  eyes  of  men.^ 
Ecclesiastes  refuted  the  idea  of  Providence  as  discriminating 
against  the  wicked.  Job  dissevered  the  idea  of  punish- 
ment from  suffering,  and  expressed  the  yearning  for  indi- 
vidual immortahty.  Jewish  history  proved  that  the 
individual  does  suffer  for  the  sins  of  the  fathers.  In  the 
Psalms  there  is  much  individuahsm :  at  one  time  the 
individual  retribution  of  Ezekiel,  at  another  those  out- 
pourings of  the  heart  so  personal  and  universal  that  all 
generations  can  use  their  language.  The  fifty-first  Psalm 
shows  how  the  individual  and  the  collective  are  inter- 
twined. In  the  Apocrypha  and  the  Apocalyptic  Uterature 
there  is  a  still  larger  growth  of  individuahsm,  but  also 
the  reconcihation  of  the  individual  with  the  corporate 
spiritual  Ufe.  The  aspirations  of  Job  have  developed  into 
a  resurrection  for  the  individual  righteous  as  well  as  for 
the  righteous  nation  :  then  came  a  resurrection  of  the 
wicked  individual  for  judgment.  The  synagogue  fostered 
the  individuahsation  of  reUgion  as  personal  piety.  Indi- 
vidualism as  such  never  commended  itself  to  the  Jew  : 
he  could  not  accept  an  individuahstic  immortahty  Hke  the 
Greek.  The  hopes  of  the  individual  and  of  the  nation 
were  united  in  the  faith  in  a  resurrection  and  a  Messianic 
kingdom.  Israel  alone  attained  a  true  individuahsm — 
at  least  in  rehgion. 

Greece  and  Rome  suffered  most  from  individuahsm.  In 
the  tifih  cenlury  B.C.  Greece  was  overtaken  by  such  an  acute 
attack  of  individuahsm  as  has  never  been  equalled  except  in 
the  closing  Roman  Repubhc  and  in  the  age  of  Rousseau. ^ 
Individuahsm  was  the  projection  of  the  Greek  idea  of 

1  •  Whilst  Ezekiel's  undying  merit  in  this  respect  was  his  assertion  of  the 
independent  worth  of  the  individual,  his  defects  lay  in  two  misstatements  : 
(a)  the  individual  does  not  suffer  for  the  sins  of  his  fathers,  bxit  only  for 
his  own  ;  (b)  the  individual  is  at  present  judged  in  perfect  keeping  wHh  his 
deserts.  In  other  words,  sin  and  suffering,  righteousness  and  well-being, 
are  always  connected  :  the  outward  lot  of  the  individual  is  God's  judgment 
in  concrete  form. ' — Charles,  p.  67. 

2  Individualism  was  pronounced  in  Nominalism  and  in  mediaeval  art. 


28      THE  ENVIRONiVIENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

freedom  in  an  inward  direction,  and  was  nursed  by  demo- 
cracy. Greek  constitutions  were  wrecked  by  the  passions 
of  individuals.  Sophistic  reduced  society  to  atoms, 
annihilating  the  authority  of  the  state,  and  making  man, 
the  individual,  the  measure  of  all  things.  Socrates  per- 
ceived the  danger  of  this  teaching  :  while  he  attempted  to 
save  the  state  he  further  emphasised  the  worth  of  the 
individual,  and  his  teaching  was  more  individuaHstic  than 
he  was  aware.  Plato  made  a  heroic  effort  to  buttress 
the  tottering  poUs,  subordinating  the  individual  to  the 
universal.  Aristotle,  too,  wished  to  preserve  the  state, 
but  saw  the  necessity  of  saving  the  individual  from  the 
universal  of  Plato.  The  post- Aristotelian  schools  took 
up  the  strictly  individualistic  standpoint. 

The  Romans  were  infected  with  individuahsm  in  the 
second  Punic  war  and  amid  the  distribution  of  the  spoils 
of  conquest.  The  Roman  civil  wars  were  the  result  of 
individuahsm ;  the  rise  of  the  Empire  was  merely  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  in  the  struggle  of  individuals.  As 
Roman  conquests  spread,  the  happiness  of  the  world  was 
dependent  more  and  more  on  individuals.  Men  sought 
office  for  personal  aggrandisement ;  the  state  was  simply 
to  be  exploited  for  personal  advantage.  In  art  the  parti- 
cular and  reahstic  made  its  appearance ;  portrait-busts 
were  made.  In  society,  selfishness  was  prevalent. 
Individuals  exercised  an  influence  quite  new.^  As  Roman 
hterature  was  in  its  infancy  when  individuahsm  swept 
over  East  and  West  we  find  more  individuahsm  in  it  than  in 
any  ancient  Hterature.  The  genius  of  Roman  writers  is 
personal   and    self-conscious    compared    with    the    more 

1  '  The  tendency  to  individualism  was  also  the  natural  result  of  enlarged 
experience  and  expanding  intelligence  among  the  upper  classes.  The  second 
century  B.C.  shows  us  many  prominent  men  of  strong  individual  character 
who  assert  themselves  in  ways  to  which  we  have  been  unaccustomed  in 
Roman  history  .  .  .  and  among  lesser  and  less  honourable  men  we  see  the 
tendency  in  the  passionate  desire  for  personal  distinction  in  the  way  of 
military  commands,  triumphs,  and  the  giving  of  expensive  games.' — Fowler, 
Melig.  Exper.,  p.  340. 


n.]  GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS  29 

impersonal  Greek  genius.  Love  assumed  a  more  acute 
form,  like  our  modem  sentiment.  Sellar  says,  '  Roman 
poetry  is  interesting  as  the  revelation  of  personal  experi- 
ence and  character,'  and  '  in  no  other  branch  of  ancient 
literature  is  so  much  prominence  given  to  the  enjoyment 
of  nature,  the  passion  of  love,  and  the  joys,  sorrows,  tastes 
and  pursuits  of  the  individual.'  *  Biography  was  popula- 
rised in  Greek  by  Plutarch ;  autobiography  is  a  native 
form  of  Roman  hterature.^  In  the  records  of  the  sorrow 
of  the  age  we  see  that  men  were  no  longer  willing  to  find 
solace  for  their  private  grief  in  the  grief  or  welfare  of 
the  corporate  body.  The  statuesque  patriotic  sorrow  of 
Pericles'  Funeral  Oration  was  now  an  anachronism.  The 
desire  for  reunion  was  asserting  itself  that  the  heart 
might  find  what  the  individual  heart  had  lost.  ■'  In  rehgion 
individuahsm  was  most  pronounced.  Satisfaction  for 
personal  needs  was  sought  in  universal  religions  divorced 
from  the  state  and  offering  their  message  to  man  as  man  : 
men  perfunctorily  performed  the  rites  of  the  state  cult 
which  had  no  message  for  the  destitute  individual.  The 
interest  had  shifted  from  the  outer  to  the  inner  world. 
Space  forbids  to  dwell  upon  the  results,  good  and  evil,  of 
ubiquitous  individuahsm.  It  was  the  portal  to  the  study 
of  an  infinite  personahty ;  it  was  of  immense  importance 
for  Christianity,  making  men  conscious  of  needs  that  only 
Christianity  could  meet. 

1  Rom.  Poets  of  the  Repuh.,  pp.  16-17. 
•  A.  F.  West,  Rom.  Autobiography^  p.  1, 


30      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  [ch. 


CHAPTER  III 

SOCIAL   AND   MORAL   CONDITIONS   OF   THE   GRAECO- 
ROMAN   WORLD 

Lorsqu'on  veut  troiiver  la  conscience  d'un  peuple,  ce  n'est  pa? 
toujours  dans  ses  moeurs  actuelles  qu'il  faut  la  chercher:  elle  est 
sou  vent  tout  enti^re  dans  ses  voeux  et  dans  ses  regrets. — Denis, 
vol.  ii.  p.  130. 

It  is  impossible  to  understand  the  moral  and  religious 
conditions  of  the  ancient  world  without  taking  into 
account  the  social  conditions  partly  determined  by  and 
partly  determining  the  moral  and  religious.  Many  factors 
must  be  considered  which  space  permits  us  merely  to 
summarise. 

A.  Social  Conditions 
Fall  of  Polls 

From  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  society 
had  been  in  a  state  of  constant  flux.  The  weakening 
and  subsequent  fall  of  the  city-state  involved  a  fearful 
crisis.  The  ancient  principle  was  one  of  the  strict  sub- 
ordination of  the  individual  W)  the  body  poUtic.  But 
the  passions  of  individuals  overthrew  this  long- established 
system.  This  had  unfortunately  beeiySone  before  men 
were  clear  as  to  what  should  take  its  place.  Having 
rejected  a  cramping  authority  they  were  in  no  haste  to 
acknowledge  another.  Individualism  became  regnant. 
The  West,  which  gave  birth  to  the  idea  of  equal  Uberty 


m.]  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  31 

regulated  by  self-made  law,  paid  dearly  for  the  boon  Id 
the  way  of  terrible  social  revolutions  while  the  polis  yet 
stood,  and,  when  it  began  to  totter,  by  bloody  conflicts 
as  to  who  should  wield  authority  in  the  next  regime. 
From  the  Peloponnesian  war  onwards  the  decHne  of  free- 
dom and  the  alarming  growth  of  mercenaries  and  outlaws 
is  '  one  of  the  most  injurious  phenomena  of  this  age,'  and 
indicative  of  approaching  miUtary  despotism.  The  Greeks 
tried  monarchy,  tyranny,  oUgarchy,  democracy,  and 
decided  for  democracy.  Roman  history  presents  a 
curious  and  instructive  development.  Democracy  steadily 
advanced  as  in  Greece,  but  with  the  extension  of  Roman 
conquests,  when  great  affairs  of  state  and  foreign  policy 
required  professional  and  speciaHsed  knowledge,  the  senate 
so  manipulated  popular  government  as  to  estabhsh  the 
most  tyrannical  oUgarchy  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  all 
imder  the  farce  of  popular  and  representative  government 
— just  as  in  our  own  Napoleonic  wars  the  peasant  and 
middle  classes,  who  gave  their  Uves  by  thousands,  were 
sacrificed  for  the  benefit  of  a  scanty  nobility.  The  Orient 
was  not  Hable  to  frequent  and  violent  revolutions  hke 
the  West :  it  remained  more  sphinx-like. 

Unintermittent  Wars 

For  400  years  B.C.  the  nations  had  been  engaged  in  unin- 
termittent wars.  After  the  struggle  of  Greece  against  Persia 
began  the  internecine  strife  of  the  Greek  states  which  ended 
in  the  exhaustion  of  all ;  then  on  the  field  of  Chaeroneia 
Greece  came  under  the  heel  of  Macedonia.  Alexander's 
world-conquests  were  followed  by  the  struggles  of  the 
Diadochi  imtil  the  Romans  made  a  universal  conquest. 
The  Romans  had  carried  on  a  long  warfare  to  extend  their 
rule  over  Italy :  they  had  also  fought  the  Carthaginian 
d  outrance  to  convert  the  Mediterranean  into  a  Roman 
sea.    Finally,  the  Roman  civil  wars  deluged  the  whole 


32      THE  ENVIRONIklENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

world  in  blood.  Ancient  historians  have  left  us  records 
of  the  disastrous  social  and  moral  consequences  of  most 
of  these  wars.  Thucydides'  recital  of  the  results  of  the 
Peloponnesian  war  is  well  known.  The  second  Punic  war 
— though  against  a  foreign  foe — was  the  first  serious  dis- 
integrating force  in  Roman  morals.^  It  hastened  the 
advent  of  a  commercial  era  in  a  society  hitherto  agri- 
cultural and  miHtary. 

Economic  Results 

The  many  wars  of  this  period  told  on  society.  The 
material  resources  of  many  cities  and  individuals  were 
exhausted  and  comforts  diminished,  a  fact  which  partly 
explains  the  spirit  of  revolution  and  rebeUion,  social  dis- 
turbances being  notoriously  conditioned  by  economic  con- 
siderations. When  a  large  section  of  society  have  nothing 
to  lose  they  are  ready  to  promote  any  revolution  as  Ukely 
to  benefit  them,  and  certain  not  to  render  their  circum- 
stances worse.  Citizens  were  kept  under  arms  for  ever 
longer  periods,  and  were  obhged  to  remain  years  abroad 
where  the  ties  of  home  gradually  relaxed  and  domestic 
charities  dechned.  They  returned  home  unaccustomed  to 
the  useful  monotony  of  daily  work  which  only  brought  a 
bare  Hving.  Having  been  in  the  pay  of  the  state,  they 
looked  to  the  state  still  to  provide  for  them.  They  also 
looked  for  some  substitute  for  excitement  and  blood-shed- 
ding. As  their  conquests  had  enriched  their  country,  why 
should  the  country  not  pamper  them  as  they  deserved  ? 
Again,  many  of  these  veterans  had  left  home  before  a 
marriageable  age  and  returned  indifferent  to  the  soften- 
ing influences  of  domestic  fife:  this  naturaUy  affected 
the  birth-rate.  Of  those  who  went  out  from  their  homes 
tens  of  thousands  never  returned.  Thus  not  only  was  a 
vacuum  created  at  home,  but  many  widows  were  emanci- 

1  Cf.  Lecky,  Hist,  of  European  Morals,  ii.  302  ff. 


m.]  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  33 

pated  from  marital  control,  a  condition  which  furthered 
the  prominence  of  women  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Mihtar- 
ism,  never  the  nurse  of  social  virtues,  became  increasingly 
influential.  The  most  hopeless  feature  was  that  in  the 
Roman  RepubHc  which  ruled  the  world  the  civil  power 
lost  control  over  the  mihtary  :  this  deluged  Rome  and 
many  of  her  provinces  in  bloodshed. 

But  the  long  wars  gave  rise  to  serious  economic  and 
industrial  questions.  The  lands  which  furnished  the 
battle-ground  were  exhausted.  Colossal  armies  had  been 
billeted  upon  the  helpless  populations.  Bread-earners  had 
been  pressed  into  service.  Crops  over  large  areas  were 
destroyed  lest  they  should  feed  an  enemy,  or  carried  off 
for  the  needs  of  the  devastating  army ;  the  very  means  of 
their  agriculture  were  removed — horses  and  all  draught 
animals  and  farming  implements.  Conquered  lands  were 
compelled  to  pay  large  contributions  in  money  or  in  kind, 
which  plunged  them  into  debt  to  unprincipled  specu- 
lators. Their  country  was  also  opened  to  the  exploitation 
of  foreign  capitahsts.  Many  cities  fell  into  bankruptcy. 
Thousands  of  the  former  free  population  had  been  killed, 
or  sold  as  slaves,  or  drafted  as  auxiUaries  into  the  Roman 
armies.  There  was  not,  in  the  economic  depression,  employ- 
ment enough  for  those  left,  which  necessitated  migration 
of  populations. 

One  of  the  first  consequences  of  Alexander's  conquests 
was  to  bring  into  circulation  enormous  sums  of  gold  and 
silver  and  to  scatter  treasures  of  precious  stones — the 
hordes  of  centuries  of  Oriental  despotism.  This  circula- 
tion stimulated  greed  for  a  share  of  the  spoils.  It  gave 
rise  to  the  desire  of  wealth  for  self -gratification,  created  a 
demand  for  luxuries,  and  raised  the  pricas  so  that  living 
became  more  difficult  for  the  poor. 

The  same  thing  happened  later,  and  to  a  still  larger 
extent,  in  Rome.  The  social  trouble  of  the  time  of  the 
Gracchi  arose  from  the  division  of  the  spoils.    The  members 

C 


34      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

of  the  oligarchy  secured  most  of  the  public  lands  for  them- 
selves, the  state  being  only  nominally  landlord.  When 
the  land-bills  of  Tiberius  Gracchus  proposed  a  redistribu- 
tion, the  proprietors  whom  the  landlords  had  settled  on 
the  lands  were  threatened  with  starvation,  and  to  save 
themselves  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  popular  party  who  had 
lost  everything,  or  had  nothing  to  lose.  With  every  step 
in  Roman  history  we  find  the  class  struggles  accompanied 
with  greater  acrimony.  As  in  our  developing  industrial  and 
imperial  life  from  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century 
until  the  era  of  recent  social  reforms,  the  rich  grew  richer  and 
the  poor  poorer.  '  Trusts '  were  formed,  small  proprietors 
became  fewer  as  the  ohgarchy  encroached.  Matters  grew 
worse  as  Rome  entered  upon  the  conquest  of  the  rich  East. 
Immense  sums  poured  into  the  treasury  to  be  disgorged  into 
private  pockets ;  the  domains  of  the  East  were  exploited 
by  the  Roman  speculator.  Joint-stock  companies  were 
floated  to  collect  with  enormous  profits  the  revenues. 
Large  sums  were  needed  by  the  exhausted  lands  to  carry 
out  public  works  and  to  repair  the  damage  of  war.  In  a 
thousand  ways  the  speculator  was  able  to  make  large  returns, 
having  no  scruples  of  conscience  to  hamper  him.  A  taste 
for  luxuries  spread  from  the  East,  and  the  demand  created 
a  supply.  The  cost  of  Uving  rose,  and  was  met  by  a 
decreasing  marriage  and  birth  rate.  The  stupid  extrava- 
gance of  the  late  Republic  and  the  early  Empire  has  rarely 
been  equalled.  The  tough  Roman  character  soon  deterio- 
rated amid  self-indulgence.  The  unnatural  and  sudden 
fashion  in  which  Rome  came  to  her  wealth  led  to  her  rfiin. 
She  had  not  the  culture  and  education  necessary  to  handle 
it  aright.  There  was  more  wealth  than  could  in  that  age 
be  put  to  productive  use.  There  was  a  field  for  investment 
(chiefly  in  land  and  slaves)  but  not  large  enough,  or  rather 
the  banking  system  was  not  sufficiently  developed.  The 
result  was  what  we  might  anticipate  if  the  many  British 
capitalists  could  not  find  all  over  the  world  a  rich  field  for 


in.]  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  35 

their  surplus  capital,  and  were  to  withdraw  it  for  self- 
indulgence  at  home.  Luxury  among  the  plutocrats  and 
patemaHsm  on  the  part  of  the  administration  put  a 
premium  upon  idleness  in  which  no  morality  can  thrive. 


Increasing  Number  of  Slaves 

One  of  the  evil  results  of  war  was  the  augmentation  of 
the  numbers  of  slaves.  A  cringing  slave  made  an  insolent 
master.  Experience  has  proved  that  slavery  exerts  a 
deteriorating  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  owners.  It 
affected  also  the  free  labouring  population  :  forced  labour, 
considered  cheaper  than  free,  entered  into  competition 
with  it.  But,  strange  to  say,  we  hear  of  no  complaints  of 
the  free  against  the  slave,  nor  any  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment. The  few  freemen  anxious  to  work  apparently  found 
work,  and  the  others  preferred  to  be  on  the  roll  of  state-fed. 

Work  for  wages  and  the  winning  of  daily  bread  was  dis- 
tasteful, especially  to  the  Greek  and  to  the  later  Roman. 
The  Greek  ideal  was  a  Ufe  of  leisure  freed  from  toil  and  care. 
The  plunder  of  conquests  inoculated  the  Roman  with  an 
aversion  to  hard  work  :  he  loved  otium,  but  it  was  no  longer 
the  well-earned  rest.  The  Jew  alone  gave  to  toil  an  honour- 
able place.  Unfortunately  the  Roman  administration  did 
not  encourage  healthful  labour,  but  rendered  the  situation 
worse  by  doHng  out  com  and  oil  to  idle  men. 

Destruction  of  the  Middle  Classes 

Perhaps  the  most  deplorable  feature  of  this  period  was 
the  destruction  of  the  middle  classes  who  form  the  back- 
bone of  every  nation.  This  set  in  first  in  the  Greek  world, 
where  the  civil  wars  of  the  Greek  states  and  the  wars 
between  the  Greek  kingdoms  after  Alexander  had  exhausted 
the  free  civic  armies.  In  the  East  Rome  completed  the 
disastrous  work.    In  Italy  Hannibal  had  traversed  the 


36      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

country  exterminating  the  yeomanry.  What  Hannibal 
spared  Rome's  own  wars  in  Italy  destroyed.  The  dis- 
appearance of  the  middle  class  created  serious  moral  and 
social  difficulties.  This  class  generally  keeps  any  country 
from  rushing  headlong  to  ruin  ;  they  are  the  last  strong- 
hold of  a  people's  virtue ;  they  mediate  between  the  ex- 
tremes of  society.  The  absence  of  the  middle  class 
deepened  and  widened  the  terrible  social  cleft  in  the  ancient 
world.    An  important  reconcihng  factor  had  dropped  out. 

Drift  to  City  Lije 

There  was  a  constant  drift  to  the  cities,  partly  because 
of  the  dechne  of  agriculture  and  small  proprietorship, 
partly  from  ampler  opportunities  of  making  a  fortune 
when  commerce  became  brisk,  partly  for  the  sake  of 
adventure,  and  other  causes.  The  cities  afforded  ample 
means  of  amusement  and  excitement,  as  much  sought  then 
as  now.  In  the  first,  and  still  more  in  the  second  century 
of  the  Empire,  the  world  was  studded  with  more  beautiful 
cities  than  at  the  present  day.  The  burdens  fell  on  the 
rich  more  than  in  our  time.  The  stone  records  abound  in 
examples  of  private  generosity  for  pubhc  purposes. 

B.  MoBAL  Conditions 

In  appraising  the  moraUty  of  the  Graeco-Roman  world  we 
must  keep  in  view  the  many  causes  producing  moral  dis- 
order— centuries  of  poUtical  confusion,  devastatTng  con- 
quests, the  depopulation  of  fair  regions,  the  diminutiou 
of  the  free  classes,  the  extermination  of  the  middle  classes, 
the  enormous  increase  of  slavery  whereby  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  human  beings  were  cut  loose  from  the  moral 
restraints  of  their  civihsations,  culture,  and  rehgion,  and, 
soured  by  their  misfortunes,  became  the  panders  and  pro- 
pagators of  vice  ;  the  social  upheavals  arising  from  the  fall 


m,]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  37 

of  the  city-state,  the  march  of  triumphant  dcnocracy, 
the  mental  void  due  to  the  fall  of  the  national  faiths,  the 
sudden  irruption  of  unearned  wealth,  the  rise  of  capitahsm 
and  the  growth  of  latifundia,  the  successful  revolt  of 
individuaUsm,  the  world-shaking  civil  wars  of  Rome,  the 
grinding  taxation  and  the  noxious  fiscal  system  of  Rome. 
The  pagan  world  was  morally  depressed  by  the  sense  of  a 
continuous  deterioration,  as  we  are  inspired  by  that  of  an 
'  increasing  purpose  '  in  history.  Also  the  Romans  formed 
the  aristocracy,  the  '  society,*  among  peoples  more  cultured 
than  themselves,  and  thus  prompted  to  what  was  often 
imitation  of  the  inferior.  It  would  be  a  remarkable  world 
that  such  causes  would  not  shake  to  the  very  foundations. 
Yet  in  face  of  all  this,  in  the  old  world  life,  as  ever,  was 
rising  from  death. 

It  is  much  easier  to  depict  the  moral  condition  of  one 
class  of  ancient  society  than  to  form  a  balanced  judgment 
of  its  general  moraUty.  Hence  exaggerations  are  current 
in  most  books  dealing  with  this  period. 

(a)  Dark  Side 

It  is  an  unpleasant  task  to  draw  aside  the  veil  which 
covers  the  vice  and  sin  of  the  ancient  world  ;  this  is  neces- 
sary, however,  in  order  that  our  sketch  may  not  be  one- 
sided. There  is  a  dark  and  lurid  aspect.  Paul,  who  knew 
the  Hellenistic  age  better  than  any  modem  writer,  out- 
Hnes  an  awful  picture  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  i.  21  ff., 
though  Paul  knew  another  aspect  also  which  he  does  not 
here  mention. 

Slavery 

Ancient  society  rested  upon  the  foundation  of  slavery, 
which  could  not  then  be  aboUshed  without  precipitating 
society  into  chaos.  It  was  the  wisdom  and  policy  of  early 
Christianity  not  to  seek  to  exterminate  slavery  with  one 
blow,  but  first  regulate  it  while  establishing  the  principles 


38      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca 

which  were  sure  to  end  it.  Slavery  was  itself  an  advanced 
stage  of  humanity  in  comparison  with  the  time  when  aU 
prisoners  were  put  to  the  sword.  The  Greek  and  the 
Roman  saw  no  more  wrong  in  having  slaves  than  we  see 
in  having  domestic  servants.  The  most  fruitful  source  of 
slavery  was  war;  next  to  that  were  piracy,  kidnapping, 
brigandage,  slave-breeding  and  debt.^  The  total  number 
of  slaves  in  the  Graeco-Roman  world  at  any  period  is 
variously  estimated,  as  also  their  relative  proportion  to 
the  free.  Le  Maistre  reckons  60,000,000  in  the  Empire. 
In  Pergamum  there  was  one  slave  to  every  two  freemen. 
In  the  city  of  Rome  the  proportion  was  undoubtedly  much 
greater :  Beloch  reckons  280,000  slaves  to  500,000  free, 
Gibbon  reckons  as  many  slaves  as  free  in  the  time  of 
Claudius,  Blair  guesses  the  number  of  slaves  and  of  free 
to  be  about  equal  up  to  the  destruction  of  Carthage,  and 
after  that  the  proportion  to  be  3  to  1,  giving  a  population 
of  over  20,000,000  slaves  in  Italy.  Zumpt  reckons  over 
650,000  slaves  in  Rome  in  5  B.C. 

1  A  few  examples  will  show  the  numbers  of  slaves.  Alexander  sold 
30,000  Tiiebans.  In  a  census  of  Athens  in  the  time  of  Demetrius  Phalereus 
there  were  400,000  slaves  to  20,000  freemen.  In  Corinth  460,000  were 
5[ound.  Under  the  closing  Roman  Republic  and  fhe  early  Elmpire  slavery 
reached  its  acme.  Aemilius  Paullus  at  the  close  of  the  war  with  Perseus 
sold  150,000  freemen  of  Epirus.  After  the  victories  of  Marius  60,000  Cimbri 
and  90,000  Teutons  are  said  to  have  been  sold.  Before  the  second  Punic 
war,  when  Rome  annexed  Sardinia  and  Corsica,  so  many  captives  were  sold 
that  there  arose  a  proverb,  Sardi  venales,  'as  cheap  as  Sardinians.*  In  the 
slave  wars  of  Sicily  Eunus  had  200,000  armed  slaves.  In  the  insurrection  of 
Spartacus  the  numbers  vary  from  40,000  to  100,000,  of  whom  10,000  were 
executed  by  Crassus.  Caesar  sold  63,000  Gauls  on  a  single  occasion. 
Augustus  tells  on  the  Monumentum  Ancyranum  that  he  delivered  to  their 
masters  for  execution  30,000.  Trajan  caused  10,000  slaves  to  engage  in 
mutual  slaughter  to  amuse  the  Roman  people  for  four  months.  In  the  second 
century  B.  c.  a?  many  as  10,000  were  sold  in  the  Delos  market  in  one  day. 
Private  Roman  establishments  possessed  enormous  numbers,  amounting  in 
some  cases  to  20,000.  Crassus  had  over  500  carpenters  and  architects  alone. 
Scaurus  owned  over  4000  urban  slaves  and  as  many  country  ones.  A  freedman 
under  Augustus  left  4116.  When  Pedanius  was  murdered  400  slaves  were 
executed.  Augustus  forbad  the  liberation  by  testament  of  more  than  one- 
fifth,  or  a  maximum  of  100,  of  one's  slaves.  The  poorer  freemen  could  not 
afford  to  keep  slaves,  but  the  parsimonious  Cato  Uticensis  kept  twelve  in 
the  distress  of  the  civil  wars,  and  ten  does  not  seem  an  exorbitant  number 
from  the  point  of  view  of  a  poor  poet  like  Horace, 


m.1  MORAL  CONDITIONS  39 

In  Greece,  except  at  Athens,  the  condition  of  the  slave 
was  wretched.  In  the  Roman  RepubHc  it  was  on  the  whole 
not  so  ba3~as  in  Greece,  though  not  so  favourable  as  in 
Athens.  The  slave  was  a  res  not  a  'persona,  had  no  rights, 
and  enjoyed  mTpro tec tion  from  the  brutaHty  of  his  master. 
There  was  no  asylum  as  at  Athens.  The  master  could 
inflict  any  punishment  he  pleased,  could  torture  and  maim, 
could  break  up  servile  family  connections,  could  crucify. 
The  worst  slaves  worked  in  the  country  in  chains  and  slept 
in  the  ergastulum.  Runaway  slaves  met  with  frightful 
punishment  when  caught.  A  slave's  evidence  could  only 
be  given  under  torture.  We  read  of  masters  crucifying 
their  slaves  after  previously  cutting  out  their  tongues  ;  for 
a  paltry  offence  cutting  off  their  hands  or  throwing  them 
as  food  to  the  lampreys,  or  compeUing  them  to  fight  in 
the  amphitheatre.  If  a  master  was  murdered  the  whole 
familia  was  executed.  Even  in  the  imperial  period  which 
witnessed  humaner  treatment  to  slaves,  we  still  find 
terrible  acts  of  caprice.  Augustus  is  said  to  have  crucified 
^ros,  his  steward,  for  eating  a  quail.  Roman  ladies  tore 
their  attendants'  faces  or  drove  pins  into  their  flesh  if  a 
curl  was  out  of  place.  It  is  no  wonder  slaves  sometimes 
took  vengeance,  and  there  arose  the  saying,  '  So  many 
slaves  so  many  enemies.' 

The  increase  in  slaves  produced  important  economic 
and  moral  effects.  Those  from  the  West  were  employed 
chiefly  in  farming  the  estates  of  the  rich,  and  so  contributed 
to  the  revival  of  ItaHan  agriculture  in  the  first  century 
B.C.  But  slave  labour  being  thought  cheaper  than  free 
diminished  the  demand  for  free  work  and  lowered  the 
wages  :  this  in  turn  sent  the  rural  populations  into  the 
vices  and  idleness  of  the  cities.  The  slaves  from  the  East 
were  more  skilful  and  cultured  than  their  masters  :  these 
suppUed  the  demands  of  speciahsed  and  skilled  labour, 
for  after  the  second  Punic  war  labour,  hke  pohtics,  was 
professionaHsed.     But  these  slaves  were  mostly  employed 


40      THE  ENVIRONIVIENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

on  unproductive  toil.  The  enormous  demand  for  skilled 
labour  caused  by  the  expansion  of  Rome  once  met,  the 
Romans  knew  not  how  to  put  all  their  slaves  to  productive 
work. 

The  moral  aspect  of  slavery  is  the  most  serious.  Slavery 
proved  in  the  end  one  of  the  causes  of  the  downfall  of  Rome. 
After  the  cessation  of  Roman  conquests,  slavery  fostered 
the  cruel  spirit  bred  by  war  and  indifference  to  human 
suffering.  It  furnished  most  of  the  material  for  the  most 
brutahsing  of  all  amusements — the  gladiatorial  combats. 
Slavery  inoculated  society  with  a  moral  poison  from 
which  it  never  recovered.  Men  of  culture  superior  to  their 
masters,  brought  up  once  in  freedom,  enslaved  by  capri- 
cious fortune  and  unjust  aggression,  cut  loose  from  the 
tempering  traditions  of  home  and  the  reKgion  of  their 
fathers  and  made  the  menials  of  a  people  whom  they 
despised,  were  a  dangerous  element  in  society.  Their  re- 
venge was  to  corrupt  their  overlords.  They  pandered  to 
their  vices,  and  sought  new  and  exciting  debaucheries  for 
jaded  masters.  It  was  forbidden  them  to  exercise  moral 
discretion :  nee  turpe  est  quod  dominus  iuhet.  The  plays 
of  Menander,  Plautus,  and  Terence  show  us  how  slaves 
helped  their  masters,  young  and  old,  in  immoraUty.  It 
was  no  unusual  thing  for  a  master  to  have  a  sort  of  harem 
among  his  younger  female  slaves,  for  the  slave-girl  had  no 
protection  against  his  lust.  Even  Roman  matrons  were 
known  to  stoop  to  shame  with  their  slaves.  The  most 
baneful  influence  was  in  the  training  of  youth.  Children 
were  brought  up  in  an  unhealthy  atmosphere  in  which 
they  saw  the  reckless  conduct  of  their  parents,  and  were 
committed  to  slave  tutors  whom  they  could  not  respect, 
and  who  were  indifferent  to  the  morals  and  character  of 
their  pupils.  Among  the  younger  slaves  the  sons  of  fjie 
house  found  half-brothers. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  41 

The  Stage 

The  amusements  of  this  period  were  not  elevating. 
The  stage  proved  a  degrading  factor.  Drama  had  its 
origin  in  Greece  in  religion,  and  Greek  tragedy  is  still  an 
unspent  moral  force.  None  were  found  to  take  up  the 
mantle  of  an  Aeschylus,  a  Sophocles,  or  a  Euripides.  The 
old  political  Comedy  culminated  in  Aristophanes.  Upon 
the  extinction  of  poHtical  hf e  followed  the  Middle  Comedy, 
and  finally  the  New  Comedy,  or  Comedy  of  manners,  re- 
presented by  Philemon  and  Menander,  of  which  Mahaffy 
says,  '  a  more  mesquin  and  frivolous  society  has  never  been 
brought  upon  the  stage  than  Attic  New  Comedy.'  Before 
Rome  lost  her  earnestness,  tragedy  appealed  to  her  by 
giving  satisfaction  to  her  ethical  sjTnpathies,  and  by  its 
didactic  and  oratorical  quaUties.  The  taste  for  comedy 
came  in  about  the  time  of  the  second  Punic  war.  The 
comedies  of  Plautus  and  Terence,  fabulae  palliatae,  were 
translations  or  adaptations  of  the  frivolous  Attic  New 
Comedy.  Here  we  are  not  concerned  with  the  Uterary  value, 
but  with  the  moral  effects  of  these  plays.  Plautus  in  the 
ease  and  security  which  succeeded  the  great  war  appealed 
to  the  craving  for  unrestrained  enjoyment  of  pleasure.  He 
Uked  new  ways,  manners  and  luxury.  He  does  not 
inculcate  nor  encourage  immoraUtj^  but  at  the  best  he 
is  morally  indifferent.  '  It  is  rather  in  the  absence  of 
any  virtuous  ideal  than  in  positive  incitements  to  vice,  that 
the  Plan  tine  comedy  may  be  called  immoral.'  ^  Terence 
in  his  urbane  style  set  before  his  audience  a  refined,  good- 
mannered,  and  cultivated  society,  in  which  the  motto  is 
*  to  step  aside  is  human.'  Hence  a  kindly  indulgence  to 
weakness,  a  Ught-hearted  tolerance  of  vice,  a  pervading 
sentimentahty.  In  the  fabulae  palliatae  gods  and  men 
are  ahke  degraded  for  amusement :  scheming  vice  is 
applauded  ;  the  virtuous  girl  ensnared  by  the  clever  lover. 

1  Sellar,  Rom.  Poets  of  the  Repuh.,  p.  ]94. 


42      THE  ENVIRONIMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

The  stock  characters  are  the  meretrix  blanda,  the  leno,  the 
parasite,  the  sensual  old  man,  the  unprincipled  father  and 
son  enamoured  of  the  same  courtesan,  the  cheating  slave, 
the  braggadocio.  After  Terence  a  further  decUne  in  drama 
was  caused  by  the  exhaustion  of  the  Greek  materials,  by 
concession  to  the  growing  passion  for  coarseness,  by  the 
loss  of  mutual  sympathy  between  poet  and  people,  by  the 
decay  of  healthy  public  Hfe.  The  result  was  the  rise 
of  the  fabula  togata  in  which  the  scene  was  transferred 
from  Athens  to  Rome,  with  a  lowered  moral  tone  and 
more  prominence  given  to  women.  A  further  degradation 
was  the  displacement  of  comedy  by  the  revival,  in  Uterary 
form,  in  the  time  of  Sulla,  of  the  Atellan  farce  which 
abounded  in  coarse  jokes  and  obscene  gesticulation. 
Even  this  gave  place  in  the  closing  Repubhc  and  early 
Empire  to  worse — the  Mimus — which  came  in  as  an  after- 
play,  but  in  the  Empire  was  put  upon  the  stage  by  itself. 
It  gratified  the  basest  propensities  of  the  populace  ;  '  its 
plots  were  in  general  of  an  obscene  character,  especially 
seduction,  scenes  of  adultery,  cheating  of  husbands  or 
fathers  or  persons  easily  imposed  upon.'  *  The  mimae 
(female  performers)  were  almost  nude.  The  Mimus 
received  hterary  treatment  from  Laberius  and  Pubhlius 
Syrus  ;  the  latter's  sententiae  are  celebrated.  This  rapid 
decKne  of  the  stage  corresponded  with  a  general  moral 
decUne.  <' 

Amphitheatre 

This  debased  stage  was  not  sufficiently  immoral  and 
reahstic  for  the  Romans.  Their  crass  nature  found  an 
outlet  in  the  spectacles  of  the  amphitheatre — the  most 
shocking  form  in  which  any  race  has  ever  found  amusement. 
While  Rome  has  everywhere  left  witnesses  of  the  blessings 
she  conferred  upon  the  world,  ruins  of  amphitheatres  in 
dead  cities  rise  up  in  judgment  against  her.     By  a  terrible 

»  TeuflFel,  Hist,  of  Mom.  Lit.,  i.  9. 


HL]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  43 

irony  her  greatest  material  monument  extant  is  the 
Colosseum.  Rome  lost  her  moral  balance  in  successful 
campaigns  :  bloodshed  was  congenial,  and  when  it  ceased 
abroad  she  sought  it  in  bloody  civil  wars.  The  Romans 
were  unfitted  to  settle  down  again  to  the  tranquil  affairs  of 
life  ;  they  sought  excitement  and  recreation  by  witnessing 
in  cold  blood  the  agonies  of  men  and  animals.  GladifLtorial 
games  were  introduced  in  264  B.C.  under  the  pretext  of 
rehgion  :  they  were  defended  as  a  means  of  sustaining  the 
mihtary  spirit,  Hke  duels  in  Germany.  Gladiatorial  shows^ 
were  given  at  the  pubhc  games  and  at  the  banquets  of  the 
rich.  The  combatants  were  slaves,  criminals  or  captives  ; 
later  even  freemen  entered  the  arena,  so  great  was  the 
glory  of  successful  combat.  Exhibitors  vied  with  each 
other  in  the  numbers  exposed  to  slaughter.  Caesar  put 
320  pairs  up  at  once  ;  Agrippa  caused  700  pairs  to  fight  in 
one  day  in  Berytus ;  under  Augustus  10,000  fought ; 
Titus,  '  the  darHng  of  the  human  race,'  put  up  3000  ; 
Trajan  amused  Rome  for  123  days  by  exhibiting  10,000 
captives  in  mutual  slaughter.  Rome's  hohest,  the  vestals, 
had  seats  of  honour  in  the  arena.  Claudius  hked  to 
witness  the  contortions  of  dying  gladiators.  The  fallen 
gladiator  was  dragged  by  a  hook  through  Death's  Gate, 
there  stripped,  and,  if  yet  afive,  despatched.  So  keen  was 
the  thirst  for  these  shows  that  Augustus  and  Tiberius  were 
obliged  to  restrict  the  numbers  exposed.  The  lanistae 
who  kept  gladiatorial  schools  drove  a  thriving  trade.  To 
witness  the  murder  of  men  in  cold  blood  grew  monotonous, 
and  the  Romans  always  loved  novelty  in  their  pleasures. 
Pompey  introduced  combats  of  men  with  wild  beasts  :  it 
gave  more  excitement  to  witness  an  unarmed  man,  after 
his  strength  was  exhausted,  torn  to  pieces  by  a  Hon  or 
tiger.  Every  excess  of  cruelty  and  novelty  was  tried. 
Sometimes  animals  were  chained  together  to  fight,  or  a 
criminal  dressed  in  a  wild  beast's  skin  was  thrown  to  a 
maddened  bull.    Under  Titus  5000  animals  perished  in 


44      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

a  day  in  the  Colosseum.  Domitian  discovered  another 
novelty  in  compelling  an  army  of  dwarfs  to  fight.  Even 
female  gladiators,  especially  under  Nero  and  Domitian, 
appeared  on  the  arena.  Blindfolded  men  fought  to  the 
amusement  of  the  crowd. 

The  passion  spread  in  the  provinces,  especially  Spain, 
Africa,  the  East  and  Gaul :  gladiatorial  shows  were  never 
so  popular  in  Greece,  except  in  Corinth — a  Roman  colony. 
Augustine  testifies  to  their  fatal  fascination  for  Christian 
converts.  That  the  gladiatorial  games  '  continued  for 
centuries,  with  scarcely  a  protest,  is  one  of  the  most 
startling  facts  in  moral  history.'  ^  The  evil  influence  con- 
taminated all  existence.  It  unfitted  men  for  the  pursuits 
of  peaceful  Hfe,  encouraged  cruel  passions,  created  a 
demand  for  excitement,  destroyed  the  ideahstic  by  foster- 
ing extreme  realism,  exterminated  all  sense  of  disgust, 
rendered  society  callous  to  the  misery  and  discomforts  of 
their  feUows,  and  so  hindered  the  embryonic  sense  of 
brotherhood  and  humanity. 

Position  of  Women 

In  domestic  life  and  the  relations  of  the  sexes  we  find 
shocking  irregularity.  In  Greece  woman  never  occupied 
the  high  place  she  was  assigned  among  the  Jews  and  the 
Romans.  Although  the  Greek  beHeved  in  monogamy  he 
never  held  his  wife  in  high  honour.  '  We  have,'  says 
Demosthenes,  '  hetairai  for  our  pleasure,  concubines  for 
tHe  ordinary  requirements  of  the  body,  wives  for  the 
procreation  of  lawful  issue  and  as  confidential  domestic 
guardians.'  The  Greek  was  not  attracted  to  home  Hfe  :  he 
preferred  the  company  of  men  out  of  doors  and  that  of 
hetairai.  These  hetairai,  unlike  the  modest  and  ignorant 
Greek  wife,  were  women  of  culture  and  refinement  who 
could  talk  intelligently  on  art  and  pohtics,  could  sing  and 
1  Lecky,  i.  271. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  45 

make  pretty  jokes.  No  shame  attached  to  any  comiec- 
tion  between  married  or  single  men  and  these  courtesans. 
Pericles  was  not  ashamed  of  his  Aspasia.  Some  of  the 
noblest  creations  of  art,  including  statues  of  goddesses, 
were  copies  of  courtesan  models.  It  is  remembered 
against  Socrates  how  he  visited  Theodota  in  the  company 
of  his  disciples.  Men  would  appear  in  the  law-courts 
to  contest  the  possession  of  a  heiaira,  and  we  read  of  a 
disputed  heiaira  being  assigned  to  both  claimants  for  a 
day  each.  One  orator  obtained  a  favourable  verdict  by 
exhibiting  the  nude  charms  of  Phryne.  Public  opinion 
regarded  these  alliances  as  a  thing  morally  indifferent. 
Statesmen  were  not  ashamed  to  appear  at  the  table  of 
the  noted  Phrjrne.  The  state  was  more  hallowed  to  the 
Greeks  than  the  sanctities  of  love.  The  life  of  the  Greek 
wife  was  one  of  seclusion,  free  from  temptations,  and  pro- 
tected by  public  opinion,  while  abundant  provision  was  made 
for  the  irregular  passions  of  husbands.  Thucydides  con- 
siders that  wife  best  who  is  least  spoken  about  either  for 
her  virtues  or  her  vices  by  men.  Fidehty  and  ■  bedience, 
with  indulgence  to  men's  infidehty,  are  their  chief  virtues. 
The  courtesan  was  sought  on  account  of  her  physical 
beauty,  her  easy  manners,  and  as  a  companion  to  take  the 
place  the  Greek  denied  to  his  wife.^ 

In  Rome  the  position  of  women  was  better.  The 
Roman  wife  was  as  much  in  her  husband's  power  as  in 
Greece.  But  she  was  also  his  companion  and  could  pre- 
side at  his  table.  The  Romans  threw  around  marriage 
all  the  sanctities  of  reUgion.  Woman  gradually  arose  to 
a  position  of  equaUty  with  her  husband.  The  old  form  of 
marriage,  '  in  hand,'  gave  place  to  the  free  marriage  of  the 
lat^r  RepubHc  and  Empire,  whereby  the  wife  became  in- 
dependent of  her  husband.     After  the  restraints  of  ages 

1  MahafiFy  attributes  the  Greek  lack  of  moral  sense  chiefly  to  three  causes : 
(1)  low  condition  of  wonaen,  and  absence  of  their  moral  influence  ;  (2)  ex- 
position of  children  ;  (3)  slavery . —Swn'ej  of  Greek  Civilisation,  217  ff. 


46      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

there  supervened  a  gross  laxity  of  morals.  Divorce 
became  very  common.  Men  could  put  away  their  wives 
for  the  sUghtest  cause,  and  women  could  as  easily  divorce 
their  husbands.  Seneca  tells  us  of  women  who  marked 
their  chronology  by  the  names  of  their  husbands  rather 
than  by  the  consuls.  Marriage  lost  its  sanctity  :  it  was 
lightly  entered  upon  because  easily  annulled.* 

Children 

The  estimation  in  which  children  are  held  is  a  fair  index 
of  the  moral  standard  of  a  community.  Among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  children  never  were  so  precious  as  among  the 
Jews.  They  regarded  children  from  the  utiUtarian  stand- 
point. While  the  polis  stood  children  were  essential  to 
keep  up  the  population  and  to  supply  soldiers.  Children 
were  a  state  rather  than  a  private  concern.  The  ancients, 
especially  the  Greeks,  paid  great  attention  to  their  educa- 
tion with  a  view  to  the  service  of  the  state  :  physical 
training  was  particularly  emphasised.  So  much  care  is 
devoted  in  the  systems  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  to  education 
that  one  might  easily  get  the  impression  of  the  worth  of 
children,  but  they  are  not  esteemed  for  their  own  sake 
but  for  the  future  of  the  state.  With  the  decay  of  political 
life  and  the  rise  of  individualism,  childlessness  increased. 
Greeks  and  Romans  discovered  that  while  large  families 
may  be  advantageous  to  the  state,  they  are  burdensome 
to  parents  :  the  duties  of  parenthood  were  neglected. 
The  love  of  children  for  their  own  sake  was  not  yet  common. 
Economic  considerations  suggested  a  restriction  of  the 
population.    The  cost  of  living  rose,  and  was  partly  met 

1  Cato  gare  his  wife  to  his  friend  Hortensius,  and  married  her  again  after 
his  friend's  death.  Cicero  divorced  Terentia  partly  to  get  another  dower,  and 
divorced  his  next  wife  because  the  was  not  sufficiently  sorry  for  the  death  of 
Tullia.    Augustus  took  Livia  from  her  husband  when  she  was  three  months 

{)regnant.  Divorce  entailed  no  disadvantages.  There  are  examples  of  men 
ending  their  wives  to  friends,  or  borrowing  their  friend's  wife  for  a  period. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  47 

then,  as  now,  by  a  reduction  in  the  family.  The  taste  for 
luxury  could  not  be  gratified  with  a  large  family  to  support. 
The  increasing  childlessness  and  disinclination  to  marriage 
seriously  disconcerted  statesmen.  Augustus  in  vain  offered 
considerable  advantages  to  a  father  of  three  children,  show- 
ing that  this  number  in  a  family  was  rare.  WTien  domestic 
ties  were  relaxed,  especially  in  Rome,  to  have  progeny 
proved  inconvenient  to  loose  amours,  to  the  support  and 
gratification  of  mistresses,  or  to  frequent  change  of  wives. 
Several  social  considerations  encouraged  childlessness.  An 
unencumbered  man  could  maintain  higher  social  rank, 
could  bestow  richer  gifts,  could  walk  the  streets  accom- 
panied by  a  larger  host  of  cHents,  and  attract  the  parasites 
who  gave  their  services  in  order  to  be  named  in  his  will. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  paiderastia  contributed  to 
childlessness. 

Abortion 

It  was  not  till  the  coming  of  Christianity  that  the  foetus 
was  regarded  as  a  creature  with  rights.  Abortion  was 
widespread  in  all  classes  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
Among  the  Jews  child-murder  and  voluntary  abortion 
were  forbidden  on  pain  of  death.  With  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  it  was  a  matter  of  discretion.  Means  of  abortion, 
apparently  harmless  to  the  mother,  were  in  everyday  use. 
The  motives  for  abortion  were  poverty  in  the  lower  classes, 
and  in  the  higher  sensuahty,  and  the  desire  for  indulgence 
or  the  avoidance  of  pain  or  fear  of  disfigurement.  '  No 
law  in  Greece  or  in  the  Roman  RepubHc,  or  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  Empire,  condemned  it.'  Plato  and 
Aristotle  recommended  it.  Abortion  was  practised  even 
by  parents  who  wished  children,  because  they  could  easily 
secure  foundfings. 


48      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Exposition  of  Children  and  Infanticide 

The  general  low  esteem  of  children  is  further  proved  by 
the  almost  general  practice  of  infanticide  and  exposition 
of  newly-bom  children,  and  by  the  occasional  sale  of  them 
by  poor  parents.  In  Greece,  where  legislators  aimed  at 
checking  the  growth  of  the  population  as  at  Rome  they 
aimed  at  increasing  it,  the  kilhng  of  children,  or  their 
exposure,  was  quite  usual.  The  Greeks  Hked  small  families. 
All  weakhng  and  deformed  children  were  killed,  or  exposed 
to  death  or  to  the  mercies  of  the  pubHc.  Aristotle  recom- 
mended this  as  a  means,  along  with  abortion,  of  restricting 
the  birthrate,  and  in  Plato's  Republic  the  children  of  old 
or  wicked  parents,  as  also  illegitimate  and  deformed 
children,  are  to  be  exposed.  In  Rome  an  ancient  law 
required  fathers  to  bring  up  all  males  and  the  first  daughter, 
but  allowed  the  exposure  or  destruction  of  misshapen  births. 
But  this  law  was  more  honoured  in  the  breach  than  in  the 
observance,  as  we  find  exposition  common  especially  among 
the  poor,  the  upper  classes  having  recourse  to  abortion. 
Infanticide  did  not,  however,  grow  so  serious  until  the  era 
of  the  closing  RepubHc  and  the  early  Empire ;  at  least  our 
sources  of  that  date  contain  ampler  reference  to  the  practice. 

It  was  sanctioned  on  the  Roman  stage.  It  has  been 
remarked  that  the  same  man,  Chremes,  who  in  the  Heauton 
timoroumenos  uttered  the  words  *  I  am  a  man  and  regard 
nothing  human  as  ahen  to  me,'  charged  his  wife  to  kill 
her  child  if  it  wtis  a  girl.  It  was  apparently  quite  usual 
for  a  husband  when  starting  on  a  journey  and  leaving  a 
pregnant  wife  to  leave  orders  for  her  to  destroy  it  if  a  girl. 
The  wife  of  Chremes  was  too  womanly  to  kill,  and  so 
exposed  her  child — a  worse  fate.  Apuleius  tells  of  a  father 
giving  this  too  common  command  on  his  departure,  which 
his  wife  secretly  disobeyed.  One  of  the  most  striking 
documents   of   antiquity   is   an   autograph   letter^   from 

*  Oxyrh.  Pap.,  iv.  744  (or  Witkpwski,  Ep.  priv.,  No.  68,  or  Deissmtnn, 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  49 

Egypt  addressed  by  Hilarion  to  his  wife  Alls,  charging 
her  to  destroy  the  child  soon  to  be  born  if  it  proved  to  be 
a  girl.  Seneca  in  De  Ira  says,  '  we  destroy  monstrous 
births  ;  infants  also  if  weak  or  misshapen  we  drown.  It 
is  not  anger  but  reason  to  separate  the  useless  from  the 
healthy.'  Tertullian  says,  '  how  many  among  you,  even 
in  the  magistracy,  destroy  your  children :  you  dt'own  them, 
or  expose  them  to  die  of  cold  or  hunger,  or  to  be  eaten  of 
dogs.'  Suetonius  tells  that  upon  the  death  of  Germanicus 
mothers  exposed  their  infants  as  a  sign  of  grief. 

Infanticide  was  in  every  way  more  merciful  than  exposi- 
tion by  putting  an  end  to  the  Uttle  one's  sufferings  and 
sparing  it  later  infamy.  Exposition  created  a  numerous 
class  of  foundlings  in  whom  there  was  a  large  traffic.  Some 
made  a  business  of  collecting  foundlings,  some  to  maim 
the  Uttle  ones  for  purposes  of  mendicancy,  some  to  rear 
them  as  slaves,  some  to  use  the  males  for  paiderastia 
and  the  girls  for  prostitutes ;  or  witches  picked  them  up 
to  use  their  brains  or  bones  for  magical  purposes.  Chremes, 
above  mentioned,  reproached  his  wife  for  having  exposed 
instead  of  killing  her  baby-girl,  thereby  abandoning  her 
to  some  old  witch  or  to  become  a  slave  or  prostitute. 


Vice 

Vice  found  congenial  soil  in  the  Graeco-Roman  world. 
The  more  men  were  divorced  from  serious  pubUc  concerns, 
the  more  room  there  was  for  self-indulgence  :  men  having 
not  yet  found  their  place  as  individuals,  abused  their  new 
liberty  as  licence.  Greece  had  a  tremendous  influence 
on  the  morals  of  the  age.  The  characteristic  Greek  virtue 
was  moderation  in  all  things — ^mcTuding  vice.  Greek 
culture  and  refinement  was  for  Greek  gentlemen,  not  for 
their  wives.     The  low  estate  of  Greek  wives  and  the 

Light,  etc.,  p.  155,  or  Milligan,  Ch-eek  Papyri,  No.  12),  iap  roXXd  vo\\w¥ 
r^KTjii  icLP  fy  6,p(T€vov  i<pei,  id.v  fjv  ^lyXea  l<;3aXe,  1.  8  ff. 

D 


60      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  [ca 

blandishments  of  the  hetairai  could  not  conduce  to  sexual 
purity.  The  easy  philosophy  of  the  Cyrenaics  and 
Epicurus  was  used  as  an  excuse  to  gloss  over  sensuaUty, 
for  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  as  skilled  as  some  modem 
societies  in  inventing  fair  names  for  foul  things.  It  was 
the  proud  boast  of  a  Roman  writer  that  for  520  years  no 
divorce  took  place  in  Rome ;  but  here  as  ever  corruptio 
optimi  pessima.  Witty  ladies  of  loose  morality  were  an 
essential  of  *  society.'  Infidehty  in  married  Ufe  became 
frightfully  common  and  received  but  sUght  condemnation. 
It  was  hardly  any  disgrace  to  pay  court  to  or  support  a 
mistress.  The  loose  amours  of  the  gods  were  put  forward 
as  justification  of  immoralities.  Society  was  indulgent — 
*  to  step  aside  is  human '  was  its  motto. 

Paiderastia 

The  most  shocking  vice  was  paiderastia.  Some  of  the 
best  names  in  Greek  history  are  mentioned  as  addicted 
to  this  unnatural  love,  e.g.  Parmenides,  Sophocles,  Aristotle. 
Socrates,  though  free  from  it,  speaks  Hghtly  about  it.  And 
when  Plato  speaks  of  Eros  or  Love  he  refers  to  the  passion 
for  boy  favourites ;  he  even  ideahsed  this  Eros  in  the 
Symposium  and  the  Phaedrus.  Some  philosophers  had  so 
doubtful  a  reputation  in  this  respect  that  parents  would 
not  send  their  sons  to  them.  Male  prostitution  became 
as  common  in  Greece  as  female.  Formal  contracts  were 
entered  into  between  lovers.  The  state  derived  revenue 
from  a  tax  on  this  unnatural  vice. 

Paiderastia,  at  first  unknown  to  the  Romans,  in  the 
second  century  B.C.  seems  to  have  become  general.  The 
Roman  poets — except  the  Hcentious  Ovid — confess  to 
such  love  '  with  a  shamelessness  beyond  behef .'  Some 
of  the  greatest  Romans  were  guilty,  as  JuHus  Caesar, 
Antoninus,  Hadrian  and  Trajan.  '  On  the  whole  this 
vice  exhibits  a  grosser  aspect  among  the  Romans  than 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  61 

among  the  Greeks ;  with  the  latter  it  had  often  a 
dash  of  spirituaUsm  mixed  up  with  it ;  the  sin,  so  to 
speak,  was  crowned  and  veiled  with  the  flowers  of  senti- 
ment and  of  a  devotion  amounting  to  sacrifice.  But  in 
the  Romans  it  came  out  in  its  naked  filth,  so  common 
and  so  grossl}^  disgusting  as  to  defy  and  reject  all  excuse.'  ^ 
This  awful  sin  encouraged  cehbacy  and  made  its  dis- 
astrous contribution  to  the  depopulation  of  the  Empire. 
Its  moral  effects  who  will  dare  to  measure  ? 

There  are  yet  other  sombre  colours  that  might  be  added 
to  this  gloomy  picture — the  frequency  of  suicide,  the  evils 
of  chariot-racing,  gambling,  stupid  pubfic  and  private 
extravagance,  the  audacious  indecency  of  the  pantomime, 
the  Ucence  of  the  FloraHa  with  its  races  of  nude  courtesans, 
the  naumachiae  (naval  battles  fought  by  gladiators  and 
criminals  for  the  amusement  of  the  pubUc),  lewd  pictures 
and  suggestive  decorations. 

(b)  Better  Side 

We  turn  with  rehef  from  this  sickening  picture  to  view 
a  better  side  of  ancient  society,  and  note  the  rise  and 
spread  of  higher  and  purer  moral  ideas.  The  good  and 
true  found  advocates  and  received  expression  even  in 
this  sinful  age.  The  Graeco-Roman  world  was  not  as 
corrupt  as  the  Roman  Court,  else  it  had  been  a  cesspool 
of  iniquity.  There  has  never  been  a  long  truce  in  any 
period  in  the  conflict  of  good  and  evil.  We  have  already 
noted  some  powerful  factors  conducive  to  moral  confusion. 
Without  exaggeration,  the  period  before  and  after  the 
advent  of  Christianity  was  the  greatest  crisis  in  world- 
history.  Old  landmarks  were  swept  away ;  a  thousand 
interests  demanded  allegiance  from  men  in  a  state  of 
indecision.  The  purely  objective  phase  of  history  was 
waning,  and  the  subjective  had  appeared  with  its  pain 

1  Bollinger,  The  Oentile  and  the  Jew,  ii.  289. 


62      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

and  questioning.  The  ideals  by  which  we  condemn  the 
ancients  were  as  yet  in  embryonic  form.  We  must  not 
overlook  what  a  blessing  it  is  to  be  born  into  a  society 
with  high  ideals  already  estabUshed.  Men  form  ideals 
before  they  endeavour  to  reaUse  them  :  they  taste  the 
bitterness  of  sin  before  they  thirst  for  righteousness. 
The  history  of  man  is  largely  an  inconstant  striving  to 
reach  ideals.  Besides,  if  our  middle  and  hard-working 
classes  were  as  silent  in  Hterature  as  those  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  what  a  one-sided  picture  we  should  have  of  the 
morals  of  this  age.  It  might  then  appear  as  if  our  divorce 
courts  were  as  busy  as  churches,  and  society  scandals  as 
common  as  the  unrecorded  virtues  of  toiUng  thousands. 
Some  old  vices  have  almost  passed  away,  but  new  vices 
have  arrived.  The  Graeco-Roman  age  has  one  eternally 
true  lesson  to  teach,  viz.  that  moraUty  cannot  long  thrive 
among  any  people  without  the  sanctions  and  incentives 
of  reUgion. 

Amelioration  of  Slavery 

There  were  many  alleviations  of  slavery,  and  brutal 
masters  were  in  the  minority.  At  Athens  abused  slaves 
could  take  refuge  at  an  asylum  or  anliltar.  If  Aristotle 
justified  slavery  as  necessary  and  natural,  he  recom- 
mended masters  to  treat  their  slaves  hke  human  beings. 
All  philosophers,  in  fact,  inculcated  humanity.  But 
Zeno  and  the  Stoics  struck  at  the  root  of  slavery,  declar- 
ing all  men  are  by  nature  equal,  virtue  alone  making 
any  difference.  In  Xenophon's  Economics  the  husband 
charges  the  young  wife  *^to' treat  her  slaves  well  and  care 
for  those  that  are  ill.  Epicurus  was  noted  for  his  kindness 
to  slaves,  admitting  them  into  partnership  in  his  studies. 

In  the  Roman  Repubhc  protests  were  raised  against  in- 
humanity. Many  masters  Hved  on  terms  of  warm  personal 
friendship  with  their  slaves.  Cicero  highly  esteemed  his 
Tiro,  as  his  brother  did  i^lexis.    The  slave  was  allowed 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  53 

to  acquire  a  peculium,  or  private  property,  from  which  he 
frequently  purchased  his  freedom.  For  good  conduct  or 
merit  manumission  was  easy.  A  hard-working  slave  in 
th6  days" of  Cicero  might  expect  freedom  in  six  years. 
In  the  civil  wars  slaves  rendered  signal  services  to  their 
masters,  and  proved  faithful  in  hopeless  disaster.  Many 
slaves  occupied  high  positions  of  trust  as  physicians, 
tutors,  private  secretaries,  philosophic  advisers.  Under 
the  Empire  the  position  of  slaves  was  very  much  improved 
and  the  caprice  of  masters  restrained.  The  lex  Petronia  of 
Nero  (or  Augustus  ?)  forbade  the  selUng  of  slaves  for  com- 
bat with  wild  beasts  except  on  the  authority  of  a  judge. 
Claudius  granted  freedom  to  exposed  sick  slaves,  and  pro- 
nounced death  by  their  masters'  hands  as  murder.  Nero 
appointed  a  praetor  to  hear  complaints  of  slaves  against 
their  masters,  to  punish  cruelty,  and  to  see  that  slaves 
had  enough  food.  Probably  in  his  reign  (or  in  that  of 
Claudius)  the  emperor's  statue  became  an  asylum  for 
abused  slaves.  Domitian  interdicted  the  mutilation  of 
slaves  for  immoral  purposes.  Hadrian  put  an  end  to  the 
ergastula.  The  Antonines  abohshed  the  right  of  killing 
slaves,  forbade  their  sale  for  the  amphitheatre,  appointed 
officers  in  the  provinces  to  hear  their  complaints,  and  in 
other  respects  greatly  amehorated  slavery. 

A  more  potent  factor  than  legislation  was  the  extension 
of  a  humaner  pubUc  opinion.  Tacitus  tells  of  the  popular 
feehng  against  the  wholesale  execution  of  the  slaves  of 
Pedanius,  which,  though  unavaiUng  at  that  time,  caused 
that  to  be  the  last  of  such  outrages.  Pages  could  be  filled 
with  citations  from  Seneca  on  the  duty  of  kindness  to 
slaves,  and  advice  to  treat  them  as  friends  and  not  to 
despise  them.  He  tells  us  that  cruel  masters  were  insulted 
on  the  streets  {De  Clem.,  i.  18.  3).  Dio  of  Prusa  denounced 
slavery  as  contrary  to  nature. 

There  were  thus  many  ameliorations  of  slavery  which 
made  it  more  humane  than  its  modem  counterpart.     If  a 


54      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

slave-marriage  was  not  legally  recognised  it  was  sanctioned 
by  custom  and  accepted  by  Jurisconsults.  The  concession 
of  the  pecuUum  and  easy  enfranchisement  took  the  bitter- 
ness out  of  slavery.  Enfranchisement  had  been  carried 
to  such  a  pitch  that  Augustus  restricted  it  by  legislation. 
Several  distinguished  authors  rose  from  the  slave  class. 
If  slavery  proved  a  curse  it  was  not  an  unmixed  evil ; 
in  two  important  aspects  it  proved  a  great  blessing.  First, 
from  among  its  ranks  were  recruited  the  dwindUng  ranks 
of  free  society — that  is,  freedmen  gradually  took  the  place 
of  the  ancient  middle  classes  and  so  acted  as  a  steadying 
influence  in  society.  True,  many  scoundrels  must  have 
been  freed,  but  also  a  vast  number  of  worthy  men  who  (in 
slavery)  had  learned  habits  of  industry  and  regularity. 
The  freedmen  thus  partly  filled  a  vacuum.  Secondly,  as 
the  free  classes  were  recruited  from  among  slaves,  and  more 
had  servile  blood  in  their  veins,  the  way  was  opened  to 
the  spread  of  humaner  ideas  and  to  the  sense  of  human 
brotherhood.  This  element  did  much  to  shatter  ancient 
prejudices. 

Protests  against  Gladiatorial  Shows 

One  of  the  most  curious  facts  about  the  amphitheatre 
is  the  fascination  it  exerted  upon  all  classes  for  centuries, 
and  then  the  suddenness  with  which,  after  the  death  of 
Telemachus,  the  combats  ceased.  But  men  had  not 
remained  until  then  altogether  unconscious  of  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  arena.  Augustus  and  Tiberius  tried  in  vain 
to  restrain  the  passion  for  the  amphitheatre.  The  Cynic, 
Demonax,  when  it  was  proposed  to  introduce  gladiatorial 
shows  into  Athens,  told  the  people  '  you  must  first  throw 
down  the  altar  of  Pity.'  Cicero  testifies  that  some  regarded 
the  amphitheatre  as  cruel  and  inhuman,  but  takes  up  a 
hesitating    position   himself.^     Seneca   most  vehemently 

1  *  Crudele  gladiatorum  spectaculum  et  inhumanum  nonnuUis  videri  solet, 
baud  scio  an  ita  sit  ut  nunc  fit.' — Tusc.  Disp.,  ii.  17,  41. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  55 

denounces  the  combats.  Even  Petronius  condemned 
them.  Junius  Mauricus,  when  the  emperor  remonstrated 
with  him  for  having  denied  to  the  people  of  Vienne  the 
right  to  celebrate  the  games,  repUed,  '  Would  to  Heaven 
it  were  possible  to  abohsh  such  spectacles  even  at  Rome.' 
AureUus  offended  the  populace  by  requiring  the  comba- 
tants to  fight  with  blunted  swords.  Plutarch  went  so 
far  as  to  condemn  combats  of  animals.  Only  Christianity 
was  able  finally  to  abohsh  gladiatorial  shows. 

Domestic  Virtue 

In  spite  of  the  corruption  of  the  age,  domestic  virtue 
was  by  no  means  rare.  Woman  has  never  found  a  better 
advocate  than  Euripides.  He  introduced  to  the  Greeks 
a  love  with  something  of  modem  sentiment.  He  asks 
why  a  man  should  demand  a  fidefity  from  his  wife  of  which 
he  is  himself  incapable.  Socrates  and  the  Minor  Socratics 
contributed  to  the  elevation  of  women,  asserting  their 
capabihty  for  equal  virtue  with  men.  Isocrates  emphati- 
cally condemns  the  hberties  taken  by  husbands.  The 
principal  progress  made  in  both  Greece  and  Rome  was  iX 
the  demand  for  the  same  continence  on  the  part  of  the 
man  as  the  woman.  The  high  Roman  ideal  of  the  mater- 
familias  never  became  obsolete.  And  no  ancient  history 
can  show  so  many  noble  women  as  that  of  Rome 
— women  who  were  the  companions  and  compeers  of  their 
husbands,  their  partners  in  their  labours  and  cares,  their 
support  in  disgrace  and  death.  Mutual  love  was  quite 
common,  as  we  learn  from  fiterature  and  inscriptions. 
Pliny's  marriage  with  his  third  wife  Calpumia  was  a  real 
love-match,  as  is  proved  by  their  love-letters.  Even  Ovid 
writes  in  touching  words  to  his  absent  wife,  '  I  address 
thee  absent ;  my  hps  name  thee  alone.  Never  night  and 
never  day  comes  to  me  without  [the  thought  of]  thee.' 
The  inscription  containing  the  so-called  laudatio  Turiae 


66      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

(first  century  B.C.),  is  a  valuable  document.  In  it  a  Roman 
husband  who  had  lived  forty-one  years  with  his  Turia 
tells  of  her  fidehty,  her  patience,  her  industry,  and  laments 
as  his  greatest  unhappiness  his  surviving  her.  The  wife 
of  Seneca  tried  by  suicide  to  depart  with  her  husband,  but 
her  wounds  were  dressed  by  friends  and  her  wan  face 
ever  after  testified  to  her  devotion.  Best  known  is  the 
story  told  by  Phny  of  Arria  who  braced  her  husband  to 
carry  out  the  sentence  of  suicide  by  plunging  the  dagger 
in  her  own  breast,  and  handing  it  to  him  with  the  words, 
*  non  dolet,  Paete.'  It  would  demand  too  much  space  to 
dwell  upon  the  virtues  of  Roman  women  as  recorded  in 
hterature  and  inscriptions.  The  latter  source,  especially,  is 
convincing  testimony  that  female  virtue  and  chastity  were 
never  higher.  It  was  the  virtue  of  men  that  needed  improve- 
ment. The  moralists  and  philosophers  of  the  Empire  were 
unanimous  in  requiring  equal  virtue  from  men.  Plutarch's 
high  ideal  of  marriage  is  well  known.  The  Stoics  made 
men  and  women  equals  in  virtue.  Seneca  protests  loudly 
against  the  injustice  of  men  rewarding  woman's  fidelity 
with  infidehty :  '  You  know  it  is  injustice  to  demand  fidelity 
from  your  wife  while  you  seduce  another's  wife  :  j^ou 
know  that  you  ought  no  more  to  have  relations  with  a 
concubine  than  your  wife  with  an  adulterer.'  Comic 
poets,  like  Plautus,  point  out  the  absurdity  of  divorcing 
a  wife  if  she  goes  into  town  without  her  husband's  know- 
ledge, while  the  husband  enjoys  impunity  in  relations  with 
a  mistress,  and  asks  :  '  If  an  honourable  woman  is  content 
with  one  husband,  why  should  a  husband  not  be  satisfied 
with  one  wife  ?  If  husbands  were  punished  for  maintain- 
ing mistresses  as  guilty  wives  are  divorced,  there  would 
be  more  wifeless  husbands  than  there  are  now  husbandless 
wives.'  Epictetus  calls  that  man  an  adulterer  who,  on 
looking  at  a  fair  woman,  cries,  '  happy  he  who  possesses 
her !  happy  her  husband ! '  Thus  the  morahsts  con- 
demned all  indulgence  outside  wedlock,  and  called  upon 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  57 

the  man  to  rise  to  the  height  of  womanly  virtue.  Musoniug 
wrote  a  book  on  marriage  in  which  he  condemned  all 
indulgence  except  for  procreation.  Plutarch  wrote  a 
book  on  the  virtues  of  woman,  and  one  on  precepts  for 
the  married  life. 

Virginity  was  held  in  high  esteem.  In  Athens  the 
Parthenon,  or  Virgin  temple,  was  the  finest  rehgious  build- 
ing in  the  city.  In  Rome  virgins  were  sometimes  credited 
with  supernatural  powers,  and  the  vestals  were  granted 
unusual  privileges. 

Women  were  now  given  a  better  education  to  fit  them 
to  be  companions  to  their  husbands.  They  exercised 
tremendous  influence  for  good  and  for  evil  in  public  affairs. 
We  read  of  them  accompanying  their  husbands  on  missions 
to  the  provinces,  attending  reviews  of  troops,  giving  advice 
in  poHtical  matters.  Many  were  notorious  like  Cleopatra, 
Clodia,  Messalina,  Agrippina,  Poppaea,  Quadratilla.  Others 
are  examples  of  true  womanhood,  as  Turia,  the  Cornelias, 
Porcia,  Seneca's  mother  Helvia  and  his  wife  PauUna, 
Marcia,  the  two  Arrias,  Plotina,  Mallonia,  Calpumia. 

Care  of  Children 

That  children  were  loved  in  that  age  is  abundantly  proved 
by  inscriptions,  the  playthings  found  in  their  tombs,  and 
by  notices  in  ancient  authors.  That  the  love  for  children 
was  extending  seems  evident  from  the  numerous  protests 
against  abortion,  exposition,  and  infanticide,  from  the 
greater  care  demanded  by  moraHsts  in  the  matter  of  their 
education,  and  the  importance  of  example.  The  inherent 
charm  and  worth  of  children  were  never  forgotten.  It  was 
only,  however,  with  Christianity  that  children  came  to  their 
rights.  Hippocrates  in  the  oath  to  be  taken  by  physicians 
makes  them  swear  not  to  assist  at  abortion.  Musonius 
condemns  abortion  and  exposition :  '  WTiat  more  lovely 
sight,'  says  he,  '  than  to  see  a  father  and  mother  sur- 


58      THE  ENVIRONIVIENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

rounded  by  numerous  offspring.  No  solemn  procession 
in  honour  of  the  gods,  no  sacred  dance  presents  such  a 
divine  spectacle  as  a  numerous  choir  of  httle  ones  gam- 
bolling with  love  and  reverence  around  their  parents.* 
Tacitus,  with  a  thrust  at  his  countrymen,  says  the  Germans 
regard  it  as  a  crime  to  limit  the  population  or  destroy 
their  offspring.  Epictetus  observes  that  animals  rear  their 
young  with  tender  care.  Seneca  calls  it  a  crime  and  an 
injustice  to  expose  children  to  the  doubtful  mercies  of  the 
pubUc,  and  maintains  that  parents  are  morally  bound  to  rear 
their  offspring.  Paulus,  the  jurist,  regards  it  as  assassina- 
tion to  kill  or  expose  a  child  '  against  the  voice  of  nature 
and  of  conscience.'  Ovid  employs  his  bitterest  sarcasm 
against  mothers  who  give  poison  to  creatures  not  yet 
born  in  order  to  preserve  their  breast  against  premature 
wrinkles.  The  theatre  held  up  the  horrors  and  dangers 
of  exposition. 

A  primary  concern  for  morahsts  was  the  training  of,  and 
example  set  to,  children.  Favorinus  in  an  impassioned 
passage  requests  mothers  to  suckle  and  train  their  own 
children.  '  What  is  this  new  kind  of  motherhood  or 
unnatural  semi-motherhood  which  consists  in  committing 
the  fruit  of  one's  womb  to  strangers  to  nourish  ?  '  The 
value  of  a  good  education  with  competent  and  exemplary 
teachers  was  not  overlooked.  Domestic  example  was, 
however,  regarded  as  the  most  potent  factor.  Seneca 
requires  the  father  to  set  a  good  example  to  his  wife,  his 
sons  and  daughters,  and  all  the  household.  Juvenal 
warns  fathers  not  to  permit  any  obscene  sight  or  word  in 
a  house  where  a  child  is ;  let  mistresses  and  loose  songs 
be  prohibited ;  let  the  sight  of  your  son  stay  you  from 
committing  the  sin  you  meditated — '  great  respect  is  due 
to  infancy.'  QuintiUan  says  '  we  ourselves  ruin  the  morals 
of  our  children.  .  .  .  We  like  to  hear  them  pronounce  an 
obscene  word ;  we  approve  by  a  smile  or  a  kiss  words 
worthy  of  the  shameful  Alexandrine  books  :  they  see  our 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  59 

mistresses  and  darlings.  Every  meal  resounds  with 
obscene  songs ;  children  see  only  things  one  would  blush 
to  speak  of.'  Tacitus  and  Pliny  hkewise  demand  moral 
education  for  children. 

The  tenderness  with  which  the  deaths  of  children  are 
treated  on  the  monuments  is  very  modem.  In  a  classic 
gem,  Lucretius  feels  the  sadness  of  separation  when  '  no 
longer  shall  joyful  home  receive  thee,  nor  peerless  wife, 
nor  shall  sweet  children  run  to  snatch  the  first  kiss.' 


Protests  against  Vice 

Prostitution  was  indirectly  inveighed  against  by  ancient 
moralists  as  a  pubUc  menace  and  a  danger  to  married  life. 
It  was  also  included  in  all  attacks  upon  slavery,  for  slave- 
owners there  found  most  of  their  victims.  In  the  comic 
poets  the  trade  of  procurer  is  branded  as  loathsome.  One 
of  the  reasons  given  against  exposition  was  that  it  supplied 
girls  for  prostitution.  To  Dio  Chrysostom  ^  belongs  the 
honour  of  being  the  first  to  attack  prostitution  as  an 
institution  legaHsed  by  law.  The  passage  (too  long  to 
cite)  is  marked  by  an  earnest  moral  tone,  by  a  quite 
modem  spirit,  and  by  a  stern  refusal  to  entertain  any 
reasons  for  the  necessity  of  this  '  devouring  ulcer.' 

The  moral  consciousness  began  to  assert  itself  against 
paiderastia.  Plato  tried  to  wean  men  away  from  it  by 
contrasting  the  beauty  of  the  ideal  heavenly  Eros  with 
the  crass  Eros,  and  in  his  last  book,  the  Laws,  he  stemly 
condemns  male  lovers.  Socrates  had,  at  least  by  his 
example  in  keeping  himself  pure,  condemned  his  country- 
men's worst  vice.  In  the  Symposium  of  Xenophon  (?), 
paiderastia  appears  as  a  disgraceful  practice.  Epicurus 
denounced  it,  and  Lucian  removes  the  mask  of  sentimen- 
tahty  to  expose  its  utterly  sensual  character.    Plutarch 

1  Or.  vii.  {Euboean,  or  the  Eunter)  133,  v.  Denis,  Hist,  des  thiories  et  de$ 
(dies  morales,  ii.  149. 


60      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

lauds  Agesilaus  for  refusing  to  gratify  a  passion  for  a  boy 
Megabetes — an  act  which  Maximus  of  Tyre  considers  as 
worthier  of  praise  than  the  heroism  of  Leonidas  at  Ther- 
mopylae. Seneca  describes  in  terms  of  contempt  these 
epicenes ;  Cicero  denies  the  presence  of  any  ideal  element 
in  such  connections,  afi&rming  them  to  be  altogether 
carnal. 


Lack  of  Moral  Enthusiasm  in  Pagan  Religion 

The  student  of  pagan  morality  is  impressed  by  the 
failure  of  pagan  reHgions  to  exert  any  potent  influence 
upon  morals.  A  man's  religion  did  not  elevate  his  con- 
duct. The  truth  is,  that  the  moraUty  of  the  gods  was 
lower  than  that  of  their  worshippers.  The  gods  were 
gradually  improved  by  their  worshippers,  but  not  vice 
versa.  MoraUty  was  thus  heavily  handicapped  and 
obUged  to  advance  without  the  moral  enthusiasm  and 
incentive  derived  by  us  from  reHgion.  A  rehgious  man 
was  not  necessarily  moral  in  his  conduct — a  fact  not  un- 
known still,  but  so  rare  as  to  arrest  attention  and  appear 
incongruous.  Such  incongruity  would  be  felt  in  that  era 
by  the  Jews  but  not  by  the  Greeks  or  Romans,  who 
possessed  not  the  Jew's  zeal  for  righteousness.  Hence 
some  of  the  loftiest  teachers  of  Greece  lived  what  would 
seem  to  us  immoral  Uves.  Yet  such  teachers  did  not  appear 
to  their  contemporaries  moral  monstrosities  or  hypocrites. 
Caesar  was  chief  pontiff  of  Rome,  yet  he  rejected  immor- 
taUty,  was  notorious  for  his  connections  with  women, 
and  reputed  guilty  of  paiderastia.  Some  of  the  most 
devout  worshippers  in  the  temples  of  Eastern  cults  were 
the  frail  mistresses  of  Roman  writers.  The  gods  of  the 
Graeco-Roman  world  never  offered  a  moral  dynamic  to 
their  devotees,  and  even  smiled  indulgently  on  human 
weakness.  SensuaUsts  justified  their  conduct  by  citing 
the  examples  of  immoraUty  among  the  denizens  of  heaven. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  61 

But  man's  innate  moral  sense  can  never  be  eradicated, 
however  lethargic  it  may  become.  The  moral  sense 
was  ever  asserting  itself  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
The  question  arose,  '  What  about  the  conduct  of  our 
deities  ? '  Foucart  has  remarked  of  the  Greeks,  '  They 
were  better  men  than  their  gods  :  it  was  not  the  gods  who 
improved  them,  but  they  who  improved  and  elevated  their 
gods.'  The  expanding  moral  sense  was  shown  by  throw- 
ing overboard  the  gods,  or  by  offering  apologies  and  excuses 
for  their  conduct,  or  by  branding  the  offensive  stories  of 
mythology  as  Ues,  or  by  explaining  them  as  allegories  of 
high  moral  truths.  Allegory  was  the  favourite  method. 
Plato  would  banish  Homer  and  Hesiod  for  telling  unedify- 
ing  Hes  about  the  deities.  What  were  once  only  natural- 
istic rites  were  explained  as  symbols  of  spiritual  truth. 


Man's  Moral  Consciousness 

One  of  the  features  of  this  age  is  the  expanding  conscious- 
ness of  man's  innate  moral  sense  as  a  guide  to  conduct  that 
imperiously  calls  for  recognition.  Greek  philosophy  spread 
the  teaching  of  Socrates'  daimon,  or  inward  monitor,  who 
presided  as  a  restraining  (but  not  initiating)  power  in  his 
daily  life.  Platonism  filtered  down  among  the  masses,  in- 
structing them  that  the  soul  in  a  previous  state  had  seen 
the  things  of  God,  and  was  so  impressed  with  the  love  of 
the  true  and  the  beautiful  that,  though  enshrouded  in  the 
muddy  vesture  of  decay,  it  recognised  and  yearned  for  the 
highest.  It  was  universally  recognised  that  virtue  and 
vice  were  not  identical,  and  that  each  man  could  tell 
which  he  ought  to  choose  and  which  eschew.  The  Greek 
dramatists  saw  that  any  theory  of  Destiny  as  thwarting 
freewill  subverts  moral  responsibiUty,  and  the  Stoics  also 
perceived  that  man  to  be  responsible  must  be  able  to 
assert  his  freewill  in  moral  choices  in  spite  of  their  doctrine 


62      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

of  fate.  Socrates  had  already  recognised  that '  for  positive 
truth  there  is  no  process  :  our  knowledge  of  it  is  immediate 
or  instinctive,^  coming  by  feeUng  rather  than  by  proof. 
*  His  final  test  of  the  highest  Truth  is  not  dialectic :  it  is 
unassailable  conviction,  so  soon  to  appear  as  the  final  cri- 
terium  in  Stoicism.'  ^  This  position  was  never  henceforth 
lost  to  Greek  thought.  All  schools  rejected  the  uncertainty 
of  probabiUty  offered  by  the  sceptics.  It  was  scarcely  pos- 
sible that  all  the  world  could  be  deceived  as  to  a  cleavage 
between  good  and  evil,  but  this  consensus  gentium  was 
only  the  register  of  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  implanted 
in  man.  Cicero  was  perhaps  the  first  to  give  definite 
expression  to  this  inward  consciousness  in  the  famous 
words  *  sunt  enim  ingeniis  nostris  semina  innata  virtutum, 
quae  si  adolescere  hceret  ipsa  nos  ad  beatam  vitam  natura 
perduceret.'  The  truth  of  natural  theology  was  not 
hidden ;  Paul  could  declare  '  God  is  angry :  because 
what  may  be  known  about  Him  is  plain  to  their  inmost 
consciousness ;  for  He  Himself  has  made  it  plain  to  them.' 


Practical  Sense 

Another  encouraging  feature  of  this  age  is  its  earnest 
practical  sense.  This  arose  chiefly  from  three  causes: 
(1)  the  impatience  with  further  speculation  for  its  own 
sake.  The  pursuit  of  truth  as  an  end  in  itself  had  offered 
different  solutions  of  the  problem  of  the  universe  which 
a  practical  age  looked  upon  as  contradictions.  They 
asked  :  what  is  the  use  of  all  this  pursuit  of  knowledge  ? 
Let  us  apply  the  knowledge  we  have  acquired.  (2)  The 
times  were  full  of  perplexity,  and  men  demanded  some 
practical  moral  guide  in  the  new  order  of  things.  (3)  The 
advent  of  the  Roman  who  was  eminently  utiHtarian,  and 
had  no  patience  with  speculation  except  as  appMed  to 

1  Bussell,  School  of  Plato,  pp.  87,  88. 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  63 

life,  who  desired  a  firm  hold  of  realities.  With  the  decline 
of  the  city-state,  and  from  the  days  of  Socrates,  a  new 
moraUty  was  arising — an  ethical  instead  of  a  poUtical. 
The  centre  of  gravity  had  shifted  from  the  state  to  the 
citadel  of  the  heart,  from  poUtics  to  conduct.  All  the  post- 
Aristotehan  schools  abandoned  speculation  to  offer  guides 
for  conduct.  This  practical  and  personal  tendency  was 
very  favourable  to  the  growth  of  morahty. 


Oneness  oj  humanity 

We  note  the  growing  conviction  of  the  oneness  of 
humanity  and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  The  Hebrew, 
in  spite  of  his  exclusiveness,  looked  forward  to  the  universal 
kingdom  of  God  upon  earth.  The  Greek,  although  he 
could  conceive  no  perfect  social  Ufe  apart  from  the  polls 
(and  was  opposed  equally  to  federation  and  to  empire), 
proved  by  his  culture  and  language  one  of  the  greatest 
imiversahsing  powers ;  the  Roman,  who  occupied  a  unique 
pohtical  position,  best  recognised  the  logic  of  events,  and 
by  his  law  and  administration  united  and  fused  the  races. 
The  Empire  first  made  possible  a  philosophy  of  history, 
and  suggested  the  writing  of  universal  history.  Asiatic  and 
European  were  more  reconciled  by  Hellenism  and  by  Roman 
rule  than  they  have  ever  been  since,  and  racial  antipathy 
was  at  least  no  worse  than  at  present.  The  Cynics  were 
harbingers  of  world-citizenship.  Diogenes,  asked  to  what 
state  he  belonged,  repHed  he  was  a  world-citizen.  They 
regarded  banishment  as  no  evil ;  they  would  destroy  all 
states  that  men  might  five  together  without  laws.  The  post- 
Aristotehan  schools,  and  especially  the  Stoics,  furthered 
unity  by  severing  morafity  from  poUtics ;  renouncing  the 
rights  and  the  duties  of  nationahty,  they  proclaimed  a 
citizenship  of  the  world.  After  the  fall  of  the  'polis  the 
universal  city  or  repubHc  became  the  ideal.     Plutarch 


64      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

thinks  a  good  man  can  be  at  home  anjrwhere  because  he 
is  nowhere  a  stranger.    Exile  is  not  an  evil, 

*A11  places  where  the  eye  of  heaven  rests 
Are  to  a  wise  man  ports  and  happy  havens.* 

Cicero  loves  to  dilate  upon  the  universal  city  or  republic 
to  which  all  men  as  such  belong.  Universal  law  is  contrasted 
with  the  law  of  convention  and  statute.^  Only  the  infinite 
heaven  is  the  boundary  of  our  world  :  the  same  God 
punishes  transgressors  according  to  the  same  universal 
law.  Before  the  laws  of  nature  all  men  are  equal,  and  all 
are  alike  humbled  before  death.  Not  nationality  nor 
race,  but  virtue  alone  makes  any  difference  among  men. 
All  had  shared  in  the  misery  and  poverty  caused  by  the 
Roman  conquests.  The  large  numbers  of  slaves  and  the 
increasing  influence  of  freedmen  hastened  the  faith  in 
brotherhood.  The  many  with  servile  blood  in  their 
veins,  or  who  had  memories  of  bad  treatment  themselves, 
favoured  humaner  ideas.  The  Virgilian  sentiment  would 
find  many  an  echo  in  that  day,  '  non  ignara  mali  miseris 
succurrere  disco.'  Only  under  the  Empire  could  the 
oneness  of  humanity  be  fully  realised,  or  become  an  article 
of  faith.2  Then  practically  the  whole  world  was  under 
the  rule  of  one  man,  and  looked  to  one  centre  of  govern- 
ment. Thus  Statins  could  say  '  terrarum  leges,  foedera 
mundi,'  and  Ovid,  '  the  area  of  the  Roman  city  and  globe 
is  identical.'  ^  The  retreat  from  the  civic  to  the  inner 
life  of  man  was  the  discovery  of  common  ground,  as  it  is 

1  Cf.  Cicero,  De  Leg.,  i.  15,  43.     Nam  haec  nascuntur  ex  eo  quod  natura 
propensi  sumus  ad  diligendos  homines,  quod  fundanientum  iuris  est. 
8  Haec  est  in  gremium  rictos  quae  sola  recepit, 

Humanumque  genus  communi  nomine  fovit, 
Matris  non  dominae  ritu  ;  civesque  vocavit 
Quos  domuit,  ncxuque  pio  longinqua  reviniit. 

(Claudian,  cited  by  Merivale.) 
«  That  Rome  had  converted  orbis  into  urbs  was  a  farourite  thought ;  cf. 
Rutilius  (cited  by  Merivale). 

Fecisti  patriam  diversis  gentibus  unam 
Urbem  fecisti  ouod  prius  orbis  erat. 


m.]  MORAL  COXDITIOXS  65 

externals  that  most  sharply  divide  men.  Paul  echoed  a 
Stoic  sentiment  when  he  said,  '  He  made  of  one  every 
nation  of  men.' 


Humaner  Ideas 

The  practical  fruits  of  this  faith  in  human  brotherhood 
are  of  great  interest.  The  cosmopoHtan  spirit  gave  rise 
in  the  Empire  to  gentler  and  humaner  manners.  Lecky  ^ 
attributes  this  chiefly  to  (1)  the  humanity  of  the  Greeks, 
who  first  revealed  the  beauty  of  the  gentler  virtues. 
WTien  Greek  thought  seized  Rome  it  was  the  thought  of 
a  cultured  people  freed  from  local  sentiments.  (2)  The 
breaking  down  of  aristocratic  bigotry  and  tjTanny.  The 
empire  took  a  tenible  vengeance  on  the  nobility.  The 
Civil  Wars  caused  a  reversal  of  fortune,  and  wealth  was 
passing  into  new  quarters  where  old  prejudices  were  of 
no  account.  (3)  The  colonial  influence,  especially  the  con- 
course of  strangers  at  Rome,  the  facihties  for  travel,  the 
blending  of  populations.  Finally,  the  coming  of  provincial 
emperors  Hke  the  Flavians  and  the  Antonines.  (4)  The 
brotherhood  fostered  by  the  populous  slave  world.  The 
bigoted  pan-Roman  poUcy  disappeared  ;  Roman  citizen- 
ship was  gradually  extended  until  under  Caracalla  all  the 
free  were  granted  citizenship.  The  brotherhood  of  man 
in  a  universal  repubUc  was  more  actuaUsed  then  than  at 
any  time  since.  Only  one  bond  was  lacking — a  universal 
reUgion — which  the  imperial  and  the  Oriental  cults  tried 
in  vain  to  supply.  The  universal  rehgion  was  to  come 
from  GaHlee.  The  responsibiUties  and  privileges  of  tha 
wonderful  unity  attained  in  the  empire  were  not  over- 
looked. A  frequent  thought  is  the  equahty  of  all  in 
presence  of  death,  and  by  natural  right.  Men  are  by 
nature  akin.  '  We  are  members  of  a  great  body.  Nature 
brought  us  forth  as  relations  when  she  produced  us  from 

»  i.  pp.  227  flf. 
E 


66      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [cjh. 

the  same  beginnings  and  for  the  same  ends.    She  it  is 
that  has  inspired  us  with  mutual  love/  says  Seneca. 

Kinship  with  the  Divine 

The  pagans  had  some  sense  of  a  greater  bond — kinship 
with  the  Divine,  or  the  Divine  sonship  of  all  men.  Aratus 
and  Cleanthes  agreed  in  the  sentiment  approved  by  Paul, 
*  We  are  of  His  kinship.'  Epictetus  asks  why  a  man 
should  not  call  himself  a  son  of  God  as  well  as  a  citizen 
of  the  world.  Seneca  speaks  of  the  community  of  gods 
and  men  as  one.  The  kinship  of  man  with  deity  was  a 
common  tenet.  Men  were  asked  to  be  kind  and  tolerant 
to  each  other,  for  we  have  all  sinned.  In  condemning  the 
faults  of  others  we  should  consider  whether  we  are  better 
ourselves.  '  Men  were  made  for  men  ;  correct  them  or 
support  them.'  We  should  not  do  to  others  what  we 
resent  at  their  hands.  We  should  not  revenge  an  injury, 
but  '  when  one  is  angry  with  you  provoke  him  in  return 
with  kindness.  Some  one  has  struck  you,  withdraw.'  Men 
should  mutually  support  each  other,  and  reach  out  a  hand 
to  the  perishing.  Misfortune  is  itself  a  sufficient  reason 
for  giving  help.  Ahnsgiving  was  quite  common.  For 
several  reasons  to  be  mentioned  in  the  next  chapter  there 
arose  a  new  sensitiveness  to  suffering.*  It  is  impossible 
to  measure  the  moral  influence  of  the  Jew  Uving  in  the 
midst  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  While  he  drank  his 
cup  of  odium  his  neighbours  cannot  have  been  indifferent 
to  the  power  of  a  moral  Ufe.  The  '  God-fearers,'  impressed 
by  the  practical  moraUty  of  Judaism,  became  examples  of 
moraUty  to  others. 

Reviewing  this  period  as  a  whole,  we  may  discover  some 
general  progress.    If  sin  abounded  it  was  not  passed  over 

1  *  La  souffrance  et  les  larmes  ayaient  enfin  instruit  les  maitres  de  la  vie 
humaine,  et  les  tristes  lemons  de  I'experience,  sans  abattre  la  fierte  de 
leur  courage,  leur  inspiraient  cette  compassion  aux  misere*  d'autrui' 
(Denis,  op.  cit.,  ii.  66). 


m.]  MORAL  CONDITIONS  67 

in  silence.  Despite  many  circumstances  conducive  to 
moral  anarchy  there  was  a  moral  awakening.  The 
interest  shifted  from  poUtics  to  ethics,  from  theory  to 
practice.  MoraUsts  in  no  small  number  came  forward  to 
lash  vice,  to  show  it  up  as  a  disease,  to  hold  up  models 
of  virtue  to  men.  Morahty  undertook  to  do  for  ruined 
lives  what  reUgion  does  for  us.  Man's  innate  moral  con- 
sciousness received  clearer  expression.  MoraHsts  began 
to  teach  that  a  morahty  based  on  external  laws  and 
traditions,  and  exercised  from  fear  of  the  consequences 
of  wrong-doing,  was  an  inferior  morahty  to  the  conduct 
of  a  pure  heart  that  does  right  because  of  its  love  of  right 
irrespective  of  hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  punishment. 
Personal  responsibihty  became  almost  a  dogma :  the 
rights  and  the  dignity  of  man  as  man  were  converted  into 
motives  of  conduct.  The  attention  to  the  personal  hfe, 
to  be  mentioned  in  the  next  chapter,  was  sure  to  produce 
moral  results. 


68      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [cH. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RELIGIOUS   CONDITIONS   OF   THE  GRAECO-ROMAN  PERIOD 

Tendebantque  manus  ripse  ulterioris  amore. — Virgil. 

Res  ipsa,  quae  nunc  religio  Christiana  nuncupatur,  erat  apud  anti- 
ques, nee  defuit  ab  initio  generis  humani,  quousque  Christus  veniret 
in  camera,  unde  vera  religio,  quae  jam  erat  coepit  appellari  Christiana. 

Augustine, 

L'humanit6  cherche  I'id^al ;  mais  elle  veut  que  I'id^al  soit  une 
personne ;  elle  n'aime  pas  une  abstraction.  Un  homme,  incarnation 
de  I'id^al,  et  dont  la  biographic  put  servir  de  cadre  k  toutes  les 
aspirations  du  temps,    voilk  ce   que  deraandait  I'opinion  religieuse. 

Ren  AN. 

I.  Religious  Destitution 

In  studjring  the  religious  life  of  the  Graeco-Roman  period 
one  is  first  struck  by  its  reUgious  destitution  and  by  the 
earnest  strivings  after  a  new  and  universal  religion.  The 
Gospel  of  Jesus  could  not  have  come  at  a  better  time  to 
find  men  in  a  serious  mood.  Men  were  living  in  a  dangerous 
transition  stage — between  collectivism  and  individualism, 
between  a  cramping  polis  and  a  universal  state,  between 
a  poUtical  and  a  personal-ethical  religion,  between  the 
reUgion  of  nature  and  that  of  revelation.  More  Ught  was 
demanded  than  nature  and  reason  could  supply.  A  crisis 
in  religious  Ufe  occurred  when  the  idea  of  a  strictly  local 
god  was  shattered,  and  with  it  the  traditional  cult  and 
national  faith.  A  universal  deity  could  not  be  enthroned 
in  a  day.  The  worships  of  Greece  and  Rome  left  men  in 
a  helpless  spiritual  phght :  they  had  no  message  for  the 
individual  heart,  no  strength  to  impart  to  the  fainting 
spirit,  no  response  to  make  to  the  craving  for  salvation. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  69 

The  gods  who  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  march  of  their 
worshippers  were  abandoned  and  derided.  It  is  perilous 
when  men  turn  to  scorn  what  they  have  long  revered. 
The  collapse  of  nationahsm,  the  great  social  upheavals, 
the  rise  of  individuahsm  and  therewith  the  emergence  of 
an  anxious  personaUty,  the  intermixture  of  nations  and 
races,  the  expansion  of  the  human  mind  created  new 
religious  conditions.  The  value  of  the  individual  as  he 
stood  in  the  bewildering  hght  of  his  personaUty  suggested 
new  needs.  The  god  whose  cult  was  arranged  by  the 
state  for  the  state  must  give  place  to  a  God  who  could 
hold  personal  intercourse  with  human  hearts.  When  a 
system  that  had  given  beauty  and  dignity  to  every  phase 
of  social  life  was  overthrown,  morality  could  not  well 
thrive.  The  religion  of  the  fathers  being  dead,  man 
might  for  a  time  imagine  it  possible  to  live  without  a  God, 
but  must  soon  become  disillusioned. 

The  Graeco-Roman  world  was  heavy-laden.  One  recalls 
the  epigram  of  Gibbon  that  to  the  politician  all  reUgions 
were  equally  useful,  to  the  populace  equally  true,  and  to 
the  philosophers  equally  false.^  Greek  Rationalism  arose 
to  explain  away  the  gods  and  destroy  their  power.  Some 
discovered  the  origin  of  reUgion  in  the  crafty  wisdom  of 
statesmen.  Euhemerism  represented  the  ancient  gods  as 
merely  deified  men.  Others  regarded  them  as  only  names 
or  personifications  of  natural  processes.  Scepticism  as- 
serted for  each  the  right  to  do  what  was  pleasing  in  his 
own  eyes.  Certainty  was  unattainable,  and  no  better 
light  than  probabiHty  was  offered. 

Fatalism 

As  a  result  of  nature-religions,  blind  necessity,  known 
as  Fate  or  Destiny,  occupied  a  high  place  and  survived 

1  Cf.  the  dictum  of  the  pontifex  Scaevola,  *  tria  genera  tradita  deorum ; 
nnum  a  poetis,  alterum  a  philosophis,  tertium  a  principibus  ciyitatis' 
(Augustine,  De  C.  D.,  iv.  27). 


70      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OP  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca. 

faith  in  the  old  gods.  Men  stood  helpless  before  these 
implacable  forces.  The  gods  were  not  able  to  overrule 
Destiny :  they  must  carry  out  its  decrees.  No  power 
was  so  inexorable  as  Fate  which  pursued  a  man's  steps 
from  cradle  to  grave.  The  gods  might  be  placated,  but 
Destiny  had  no  ears.  Dramatists  and  philosophers 
wrestled  with  the  problem  of  moral  responsibihty  in  face 
of  Fate  until  they  gradually  morahsed  the  latter  as  the 
avenger  only  of  guilt,  or  they  cut  the  Gordian  knot  by 
practically  identifying  Destiny  with  God.  Stoicism,  a 
system  of  fataUsm,  so  handled  necessity  and  freewill  that 
what  was  in  one  respect  Destiny  was  in  another  Providence. 
The  widespread  astrological  lore  of  the  east  was  throughout 
fataUstic.  Among  the  Romans  no  deity  was  so  fervently 
adored  as  the  capricious  Fortuna. 

Need  of  Religious  Authority 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  were  left  in  dire  need  of  an 
authority  for  the  human  spirit.  They  had  lost  all  faith  in 
their  state  reUgion.  Of  the  Greek  oracles  some  were  quite 
silenced,  others  were  still  visited,  but  there  was  a  marked 
diminution  of  inquirers.  Roman  augury  and  state  divina- 
tion were  abandoned  for  more  private  methods.  Roman 
ecclesiastics  tried  to  retain  the  masses  by  introducing 
popular  and  emotional  rites.  But  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
never  had  gone  to  their  priests  for  guidance.  In  the 
Apology  Plato  represents  Socrates  as  making  inquiries 
in  regard  to  the  response  of  the  Delphic  oracle  from  the 
poUticians,  the  poets  and  the  artisans,  without  mention 
of  theologians.  Dio  of  Prusa  reckons  as  the  sources  of 
rehgious  knowledge  besides  the  consensus  gentium,  poets, 
legislators,  sculptors,  painters,  and  philosophers,  but  not 
priests.  The  priesthood  of  Greece  and  of  Rome  was 
almost  entirely  secular ;  at  any  rate  nothing  contributed 
more   to   the  reUgious   destitution  than   the   officials   of 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  71 

religion.  The  religious  teachers  of  Greece  and  Rome  were 
laymen,  somewhat  on  the  analogy  of  the  Hebrew  prophets. 
Formalism  dominated  in  the  maintenance  of  old  religions. 
The  educated  laughed  at  the  popular  gods.  They  saw 
nothing  wrong  in  attending  religious  ceremonies  to  gods 
in  whom  they  did  not  believe.  The  masses  were  still 
pleased  with  the  pomp  of  processions  which  reheved 
monotony ;  but  even  the  masses  were  not  content  with 
the  old  deities  or  forms  :  they  sought  additional  help  in 
foreign  superstitions. 

Taedium  Vitae 

The  Graeco-Roman  world  came  slowly  to  itself,  through 
confusion  and  pain.  Greece,  in  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
lost  her  once  joyful  faith  and  cast  off  the  last  restraints 
in  the  Alexandrian  epoch.  From  the  second  Punic  war 
Rome  found  herself  religiously  destitute.  Self-indulgence 
following  upon  restraint  brought  its  inevitable  fruits, 
especially  among  the  Romans.  We  can  detect  from  the 
beginning  of  the  first  century  B.C.,  until  the  end  of  the 
first  A.D.,  a  widespread  disgust  with  life — a  taedium  vitae. 
A  rising  sense  of  personaUty  brought  pain.  Self-indulgence 
was  one  of  the  many  antecedents  of  satiety.  While  men 
were  healthily  occupied  in  public  and  national  affairs,  the 
cry  of  the  individual  was  not  heard.  The  misery  and 
poverty  caused  by  the  Roman  conquests  and  civil  wars 
destroyed  the  basis  of  a  regular  social  Hfe.  Idleness 
brought  its  concomitant — weariness.  Amusements  began 
to  pall,  and  means  of  excitement  were  exhausted.^  There 
was  frequent  migratio  to  avoid  being  bored,  but  in  vain.^ 

1  On  a  stone  in  the  forum  of  Timgad  one  may  still  read— scratched  upon  the 
design  of  a  vase  of  flowers  over  which  hovers  a  bird — the  six  words  of  six 
letters  each  :  Venari  Lavari  Ludtre  Ridere  Occest  (hoc  est)  Vivere. 

2  Cf.  Hor.,  Ep.  1,  ii.  27  : 

Caelum  non  animum  mutant  qui  trans  mare  currunt : 
Strenua  nos  exercet  inertia  ;  navibus  atque 
Quadrigis  petimus  bene  vivere ; 
and  Seneca,  Ep.  28. 


72      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

The  lords  of  the  world  who  had  less  education  and  culture 
than  the  majority  of  their  subjects  were  most  oppressed 
with  ennui. 

*  On  that  hard  Pagan  world  disgust 

And  secret  loathing  fell : 
Deep  weariness  and  sated  lust 

Made  human  life  a  hell. 
In  his  cool  hall  with  haggard  eyes 

The  Roman  noble  lay  ; 
He  drove  abroad  in  furious  guise 

Along  the  Appian  way  ; 
He  made  a  feast,  drank  fierce  and  fast, 

And  crowned  his  hair  with  flowers — 
No  easier  nor  no  quicker  passed 

The  impracticable  hours.' 

Pessimism 

Side  by  side  with  this  taedium  we  find  a  deep-seated 
pessimism,  from  which  only  the  Jew  escaped.  The  gay 
light-hearted  Greek,  just  because  he  was  so  sensitive  to 
joy,  was  early  overtaken  by  a  melancholy  which  gradually 
deepened  into  unreheved  gloom  and  '  the  weariness  of 
living  which  proclaims  itself  in  the  graceful  and  fugitive 
utterances  of  the  Anthology.'  The  thought  frequently 
recurs  that  life  is  so  full  of  trouble,  so  haunted  by  black 
destiny,  so  brief  and  uncertain,  that  death  is  preferable 
to  life.  '  Life  and  pain  are  akin,'  says  Menander.  The 
eternal  hope  that  ever  lighted  the  path  of  the  Hebrew 
was  but  a  faint  and  flickering  gleam  for  the  Greek.  No- 
where do  we  find  despair  expressed  so  pathetically  and  so 
sublimely  as  in  Greek  literature. 

The  Romans  were  infected  by  Greece  with  pessimism  as 
with  rationalism  and  scepticism.  We  find  among  Roman 
writers  a  large  proportion  of  pessimists  who  are  disgusted 
with  the  present,  and  see  no  hope  for  the  future.  They 
think  that  matters  were  never  worse  and  cannot  grow 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  73 

worse.  They  contrast  their  own  age  with  the  good  old 
barbaric  times.  Historians  and  satirists  dip  their  pens 
in  the  blackest  colours.  Livy  says  '  we  can  neither  cure 
nor  endure  our  vices.'  Tacitus  has  no  good  to  write  of 
his  countrymen  whom  he  compares  with  the  Germans  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  former.  Pessimism  finds  expres- 
sion throughout  all  the  works  of  Seneca.^  He  saw  his  own 
age  weary  with  indulgence,  without  any  strong  moral 
dynamic,  feeling  the  ennui  of  satiety.  '  Men  complain 
that  the  hours  drag  too  slowly  past,'  he  says.  It  would 
demand  too  much  space  to  speak  of  the  pessimism  of 
Lucretius,*  Lucan,  Persius,  Juvenal,  Marcus  Aurehus,  and 
other  Romans. 

The  educated  fled  for  refuge  to  philosophies  that  had 
become  reHgions.  Some  to  Stoicism  which  sustained 
countless  souls  and  formed  the  loftiest  characters.  Some 
to  the  lofty  spirituah'sm  of  Plato,  not  undiluted  with 
elements  from  other  schools.  Some  adopted  Scepticism 
and  professed  to  have  no  convictions.  Some  fled  to  the 
cold  nihilism  of  Epicurus  and  Lucretius.  Some  turned 
to  the  east  to  find  a  rehgion  with  a  satisfying  message. 
The  masses  still  perfunctorily  performed  the  rites  of  a 
national  cult,  the  reUgious  spirit  of  which  was  dead. 
But  they  too  had  recourse  to  old  private  and  native 
superstitions  that  revived  as  the  public  refigion  died, 
more  especially  to  those  of  the  Orient  which  swept  as  a 
flood  over  the  Roman  Empire. 

II.  Religious  Awakening 

On  the  other  hand  we  find  a  rehgious  awakening.  Man's 
religious  nature  was  not  dead.    The  practical  tendencies 

1  Cf.  Omnis  vita  supplicium,  Ad  Polyh.  9.  6.,  tota  flebilis  vita,  Ad 
Marciam  11.  1. 

2  Delude  animi  ingratam  naturam  pascere  semper, 
Atque  explore  bonis  rebus  satiareque  nunquam,  .  .  . 

Nee  tamen  explemur  vitai  fructibus  unquam. — N.  D.  3,  1008  ff. 


74      THE  ENVIRONIVIENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

of  the  age  are  especially  active  in  religious  things.  Purely 
speculative  theories  were  neglected  because  of  the  demand 
for  what  was  of  practical  value  for  the  moral  and  spiritual 
hfe.  The  Graeco-Roman  philosophies  were  converted  into 
religions :  ethics  claimed  great  attention.  The  age  was 
too  serious  to  trifle  with  speculation  except  as  bearing 
on  the  spiritual  questions  of  the  day.  Faith  succeeded 
scepticism. 

Preaching 

The  ancient  world  resorted  to  preaching.*  Philosophy, 
which  then  covered  the  fields  of  morality  and  rehgion,  led 
the  way ;  Porphyry  demands  that  the  aim  of  philosophy 
should  be  '  the  salvation  of  the  soul.'  Free  speech  was 
everywhere  permitted.  Oratory,  of  which  antiquity 
was  more  appreciative  than  we,  followed  this  practical 
trend.  Philosophers  avowed  themselves  to  be  physicians 
of  the  soul,  ambassadors  of  God,  whose  functions  were  to 
cure  diseased  souls  and  produce  conversions.  These 
missionary  philosophers  revived  the  spiritual  truths  of 
religious  teachers  of  the  past,  and  condensed  them  into 
a  popular  form  to  suit  the  age.  Some  philosophers,  like 
some  theological  professors  nowadays,  did  not  take  the 
field  themselves  but  reduced  their  philosophy  to  a  practical 
training  for  those  who  were  to  carry  the  message  farther 
afield.  Men  went  out  from  the  lecture  halls  to  preach 
self-examination  and  self-culture.  They  brought  forth 
things  new  and  old.  In  the  burden  of  their  preaching 
were  many  commonplaces — counsel  to  cultivate  a  good 

1  So  prevalent  was  preaching  that  there  was  a  recognised  form  of  sermon. 
Norden  speaks  of  *  des  festen  Bestandes  eiues  Typenschatzes  religioser  Rede, 
zu  dessen  Pragung  der  Orient  und  Hellas  in  gleieher  Weise  beigetragen 
haben,  und  den  die  synkretistischen  Religionen  der  Kaiserzeit,  einschliesslich 
das  Christentum  iibernahm.  Das  hellenisierte  Judentum  hat  bei  dieser 
Heriibernahme  von  seiten  des  Cnristentums  eine  bedeutende  Rolle  gespielt ; 
die  eigentliche  Vermittlerin  aber  sowohl  flir  Juden  wie  Christentum  ist  die 
Orientalisierte  Stoa— vor  allem  Poseidonius— und  der  an  sie  ankniipfende 
Platonismus  g^vfQSQn.'—Agnostos  Theos,  pp.  277-278  ;  of,  pp.  129-134,  also 
Bultmann,  Der  SHI  der  Paulinischen  Predigt. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  76 

conscience,  to  act  as  if  conscious  that  God  sees  all ;  virtue 
is  its  own  reward,  and  is  attainable  by  all ;  sin  is  its  own 
punishment.  They  insisted  on  man's  inherent  dignity 
and  his  abiUty  to  save  himself  by  his  will.  They  knew 
no  original  sin.  Life  should  be  a  contemplation  of  death, 
so  that  men  may  die  without  fear. 

This  preaching  was  not  confined  to  the  upper  circles. 
One  is  more  impressed  by  the  enormous  amount  of  popu- 
lar preaching.  By  putting  together  notices  and  hints 
in  ancient  authors  we  must  conclude  that  there  was  a 
great  demand  for  and  a  corresponding  supply  of  '  itinerant 
homihsts '  and  mendicant  monks.  Preachers,  hke  em- 
perors, courted  popularity  with  the  masses.  We  read  of 
artisans  forsaking  their  trade  to  join  the  ranks,  as  now 
men  join  the  Salvation  Army. 

The  street-preaching  and  Salvation  Army  work  was 
started  by  the  Cynics,  who  were  exposed  to  as  much 
ridicule  as  any  street-preachers  have  ever  been.  There 
was  a  proportion  of  hypocrites  among  them ;  men  too 
lazy  to  work  donned  the  philosophic  garb  as  a  congenial 
means  of  Uvelihood.  Others  offered  the  ignorant  charms 
and  cures  for  which  they  took  up  a  collection ;  others 
foimd  in  the  profession  a  cloak  for  sensuahty.  These 
very  facts  attest  the  popularity  of  Cynic  preaching.  The 
caricatures  of  the  Cynic  were  not  undeserved,  but  the 
counterfeit  here  as  elsewhere  points  to  the  genuine.  The 
Cynic  was  mocked  chiefly  by  cultured  persons  Uke  the 
witty  Lucian,  in  whose  eyes  a  Cynic  was  contemptible. 
The  Cynics  dehvered  their  message,  wrote  nothing,  and 
left  it  to  their  enemies  to  immortahse  them.  Again,  there 
is  always  a  section  of  society  who  attribute  to  a  cause  only 
the  imperfections  of  its  representatives  :  many  can  more 
readily  detect  the  hypocrisy  of  one  preacher  tlian  appreciate 
the  earnestness  of  ninety-nine.  Also  some  people  are  more 
irritated  by  the  collection  necessary  in  a  workaday  world 
than  edified  by  the  sermon.     The  Cynics  and  their  kind 


76      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

despised  culture  and  left  no  volumes  of  sermons.  We  hold 
no  brief  for  the  Cynics,  as  Bemays  does ;  but  they,  at  any 
rate,  observed  that  the  masses  needed  a  gospel  and  shep- 
herds. They  '  threw  down  the  gauntlet  to  a  materialised 
age.'  '  This  was  a  kind  of  moral  ministry  .  .  .  the 
missionary  movement  of  Cynicism  was  one  of  undoubted 
power  and  range.'  ^  Demonax  and  Demetrius  are  the 
best  representatives  of  the  later  Cynics.  Both  were  noted 
for  their  courageous  independence  and  their  healthy  moral 
influence,  and  they  were  both  reverenced  by  their  con- 
temporaries. As  Demonax  walked  along  the  streets  he 
received  tokens  of  affection  from  old  and  young.  The 
Athenians  honoured  him  with  a  public  funeral,  and  for 
long  decked  with  flowers  a  bench  on  which  he  used  to  sit. 

Outside  the  Cynic  school,  but  sharing  some  of  their 
spirit,  were  other  missionaries  and  lecturers,  such  as 
Plutarch,  Musonius  Rufus,  Maximus  of  Tyre,  Dio  of 
Prusa  (Chrysostom),  and  Apollonius  of  Tyana.  Philosophy 
was  to  these  men  not  a  system  of  speculation  but  of 
salvation,  '  medicine  of  the  soul,'  '  soul-culture.'  Some 
of  their  sermons  make  dull  reading  for  us,  but  their 
discourses  were  not  trite  in  that  epoch.  The  life  of  Apol- 
lonius by  Philostratus  is  mainly  a  romance,  but  it  is  no 
less  valuable  as  reflecting  the  ideal  of  a  heathen  preacher: 
'  the  preaching  at  least  of  Apollonius  seems  to  belong  to 
the  world  of  reahty.'  He  is  represented  as  in  season  and 
out  of  season  holding  up  to  his  hearers  the  unattractive 
picture  of  their  vices  ;  he  settled  public  quarrels,  and  taught 
the  people  to  pray  as  he  conceived  it :  '  Thus  I  pray :  Grant 
me,  O  Gods,  the  things  due  me.'  He  is  credited  with 
causing  a  religious  revival  in  Rome  in  the  time  of  Nero. 

Another  searching  preacher  was  Musonius  Rufus,  of 
whom  we  have  too  few  fragments.  According  to  Epictetus 
he  sifted  would-be  disciples,  and  *  he  used  to  speak  in  such 
a  manner  that  each  of  us  who  heard  him  supposed  that 

»  Dill,  p.  361. 


IT.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  77 

some  person  had  accused  us  to  him  :  he  so  hit  upon  what 
was  done  by  us  and  placed  the  faults  of  every  one  before 
his  eyes.'  His  object  was  to  produce  conversions.  He 
inculcated  forgiveness,  kindness,  purity,  and  self- 
examination. 

Epictetus  belongs  partly  to  the  class  of  public  preachers 
and  partly  to  that  of  private  directors.  He  had  a  lofty 
idea  of  his  mission  :  '  the  school  of  a  philosopher  is  a 
surgery.  You  ought  not  to  go  out  of  it  with  pleasure  but 
with  pain,  for  you  come  there  diseased.' 

Brief  mention  should  be  made  of  the  discourses  of 
Maximus  of  Tyre  in  which  '  we  have  perhaps  the  nearest 
approach  in  antiquity  to  our  conception  of  the  sermon.' 
In  reading  him  we  are  most  impressed  with  a  strange 
blending  of  old  and  new,  of  spirituality  and  moral  earnest- 
ness with  a  cult  of  the  past.  One  of  the  most  energetic 
of  ancient  preachers  was  Dio  of  Prusa  under  Domitian  and 
Trajan.  Converted  in  his  exile  he  determined  to  reach 
the  needy  masses.  Every  moral  and  spiritual  idea  that 
he  thought  would  elevate  man  above  the  life  of  the  senses 
he  brought  forward.  He  endeavoured  to  arouse  men  to 
see  their  faults  and  to  correct  them,  but,  in  Greek  fashion, 
he  treated  error  as  ignorance  rather  than  rooted  in  the  will, 
hence,  '  conversion  must  be  effected,  not  by  appeals  to  the 
feelings,  but  by  clarifying  the  mental  vision.' 

These,  and  such  apostles,  aimed  at  a  moral  and  religious 
revival ;  they  believed  reformation  of  character  possible, 
and  within  the  reach  of  all.  They  gave  clear  expression  to 
certain  great  truths.  Who  can  say  how  many  conversions 
they  produced,  or  who  can  measure  their  influence  for 
righteousness  ?  They  claimed  to  be  ambassadors  of  God, 
and  they  executed  their  mission  as  well  as  they  could. 
But  their  truth  was  too  abstract :  ^  they  misplaced  the 
seat  of  authority ;    they  failed  to  realise  the  true  nature 

1  'Trusting  too  much  to  the  intelli^ibleness  of  the  Abstract/  like 
J.  S,  Mill's  father  {Autobiography,  p.  2!). 


78      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

and  extent  of  human  sin.  Nevertheless,  they  were  voices 
crying  in  the  wilderness  of  Paganism,  preparing  the  way 
of  the  Lord. 

Spiritual  Directors 

Another  phenomenon  deserving  attention  was  the  custom 
among  the  richer  houses  of  the  Roman  world  of  retaining 
philosophers  as  moral  and  spiritual  directors  corresponding 
to  our  private  chaplains,  though  apparently  more  practi- 
cal. This  habit  commenced  in  the  second  century  B.C., 
when  Rome  came  more  intimately  in  contact  with  Greece, 
and  Roman  generals  carried  Greek  scholars  with  them  to 
their  camps.  As  reUgious  interests  soon  began  to  be  affairs 
of  the  greatest  moment,  the  practical  Romans  looked  to 
these  companions  for  help.  The  affairs  of  state  and  public 
hfe  were  no  longer  so  absorbing  ;  there  was  less  scope  for 
personal  ambition,  ancient  laws  and  institutions  no  longer 
lent  moral  support ;  the  uncertainty  and  suffering  caused 
by  the  civil  wars,  and  then  the  vengeance  taken  by  the 
court  upon  the  nobiUty,  made  men  call  for  spiritual  aid. 
The  post-AristoteUan  philosophies  had  shifted  the  emphasis 
from  speculation  to  conduct,  from  poHtics  to  morality. 
It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  these  spiritual 
directors  to  whom  the  anxious  brought  their  difficulties. 
In  one  respect  it  must  have  been  powerful — in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  characters  of  the  sons  of  the  house.  Roman 
masters  themselves  were  schooled  by  their  private  chaplains 
in  their  duties  {officio) ;  they  were  given  prescriptions  for  the 
control  of  passions,  and  instructed  as  to  the  summum  bonum. 
They  consulted  the  chaplains  on  all  the  crises  of  hfe,  as  on 
the  death  of  friends,  the  confiscation  of  their  estates,  or  dis- 
favour at  court.  The  directors  aimed  at  imparting  an  ars 
Vivendi  They  discussed  the  questions  of  Ufe,  death,  im- 
mortality, and  reunion:  they  supported  their  masters  in 
death,  especially  at  executions,  dweUing  on  the  examples  of 
men  who  had  Hved  and  died  bravely,  expatiating  on  the 


TF.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  79 

nature  of  the  soul  and  the  prospects  of  immortality.  Many 
a  Roman  received  much  consolation  in  life,  and  departed  with 
a  better  hope,  strengthened  by  these  spiritual  guides.  It 
was  as  usual  to  have  a  spiritual  adviser  attend  the  closing 
scene  as  with  ourselves,  so  that  a  historian  thinks  it  worthy  of 
record  when  a  man  went  to  death  '  without  a  philosopher.' 
Canus,  a  victim  of  Cahgula,  accompanied  to  execution  by 
his  philosopher,  addressed  his  friends,  '  Why  this  sorrow 
and  tears  ?  You  are  wondering  if  the  soul  is  immortal, 
while  I  am  going  to  understand.'  When  Thrasea's  death- 
warrant  arrived  he  prepared  at  once  to  die  while  discussing 
with  Demetrius  the  problem  of  immortaUty.  The  empress 
Livia  sought  comfort  on  the  death  of  Drusus  from  Augustus' 
director,  Areus. 

In  addition  to  these  humble  directors  retained  in  rich 
men's  service,  there  were  men  like  Plutarch,  Seneca,  and 
Epictetus,  who  spent  much  time  and  pains  in  giving 
spiritual  advice  to  inquirers.  Seneca  is  best  known  to  us 
as  a  director  in  his  Letters  to  Lucilius,  which  will  repay 
reading  by  any  one  interested  in  this  period. 

Inimrdness 

The  ancient  world  had  turned  to  take  the  inward  look. 
This  was  partly  the  natural  development  of  thought  and 
partly  a  necessity  of  moral  progress.  Self-culture,  upon 
which  interest  centred,  was  impossible  without  self- 
knowledge.  After  a  clear  self-consciousness  follows  its, 
exploration  in  self-examination.  As  the  individual  with- 
drew, or  was  forcibly  dissevered  from  civic  and  racial 
collectivism  and  found  himself  a  denizen  of  a  universal 
empire,  the  more  the  inner  problem  pressed  for  solution. 
As  peace  was  restored  to  society,  and  faith  in  the  brother- 
hood of  man  gained  ground,  and  men  were  relieved  from 
the  public  concerns  that  made  such  inroads  upon  their 
time  and  energy,  they  became  conscious  of  the  heart's 


80      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

unrest.  Under  the  Empire  we  find  an  increasing  '  tendency 
to  subjective  emotion,  to  self-analysis,  a  discovery  of  the 
value  and  dignity  of  the  individual,  and  of  the  separate 
life  which  a  free  spirit  could  lead  in  a  land  of  wonders, 
quite  apart  from  the  turmoil  of  domestic  or  pohtical 
strife.'  1 

But  though  self-analysis  was  more  commonly  practised 
from  the  first  century  B.C.,  and  became  more  poignant  with 
the  rise  of  the  Christian  consciousness,  it  was  not  unknown 
at  an  earlier  date.  P3rthagoras  is  credited  with  having 
originated  the  practice  and  recommended  it  to  his  disciples. 
With  Socrates  self-knowledge  assumed  a  new  prominence. 
The  appearance  of  Augustine's  Confessions  at  the  close 
of  the  fourth  century  a.d.  is  an  answer  to  the  demand 
urged  by  Socrates,  'Know  thyself.'  Socrates  made  philo- 
sophy a  criticism  of  life  with  a  view  to  moral  improve- 
ment :  '  A  life  without  examination  should  not  be  lived 
by  man'  (Plato,  Apol.  38  a.).  Here  was  return  upon  the 
inner  hfe,^  and  Socrates  was  the  forerunner  of  the  era  of 
subjectivity,  which  from  about  the  time  of  Alexander  dis- 
placed the  previous  era  of  objectivity.  In  the  third  century 
B.C.  the  Golden  Verses,  attributed  to  Pythagoras,  were 
reduced  to  their  present  form  to  take  their  place  among 
volumes  of  moral  precepts  and  to  encourage  reflection. 
Self-analysis  was  fostered  by  the  expansion  of  conscience 
in  the  later  Graeco-Roman  period  and  the  behef  in  man's 
innate  moral  nature.  Plutarch  says,  '  If  you  like  to  study 
the  history  of  sin  you  will  find  plenty  of  material  in  your- 
selves,' and  asks  men  to  let  their  neighbours'  faults  alone 
and  turn  their  inquisitiveness  upon  themselves.  The 
Neo-Pythagoreans  seem  to  have  made  an  evening  self- 
examination  a  part  of  their  discipline.  Horace  says  he 
frequently  took  moral  stock  of  his  life.    Titus  considered 

1  BusseU,  p.  212. 

2  Cf.  words  of  Augustine :  In  te  ipsum  redi ;  in  interiore  homine  habitat 
reritas. 


Dr.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  81 

each  day  whether  he  had  done  any  good,  and  if  not 
exclaimed,  *  diem  perdidi.'  Sextius,  a  teacher  of  Seneca, 
practised  self-examination  and  taught  his  disciples  to  do  the 
same.  The  locns  dassicus  on  this  subject  occurs  in  a  passage 
from  Seneca  {de  Ira,  m.  36)  :  '  Every  day  I  plead  my  case 
before  myself.  WTien  the  light  is  extinguished,  and  my 
wife,  who  knows  my  habit,  keeps  silence,  I  examine  the 
past  day,  go  over  and  weigh  all  my  deeds  and  words.  I 
hide  nothing,  I  omit  nothing  :  why  should  I  hesitate  to 
face  my  shortcomings  when  I  can  say  *'  take  care  not 
to  repeat  them,  and  so  I  forgive  you  to-day?  "  '  Epictetus 
is  Ukewise  constantly  turning  the  light  upon  himself,  and 
in  Marcus  AureUus  self-analysis  and  introspection  have 
become  the  order  for  every  day  of  a  much-engaged  Ufe. 


Examples  demanded 

To  the  earnestness  of  this  period  abstract  teaching  was 
not  congenial.  A  more  practical  method  was  required. 
As  nowadays  Christians  find  guidance  in  Bible  texts,  so  at 
that  time  men  needed  some  simple  directions  all  the  more 
owing  to  the  isolation  of  the  individual.  Personal  character 
and  conduct  were  now  of  deeper  concern.  Definite  pre- 
cepts were  demanded,  and  demand  creates  supply.  All 
the  writings  of  the  wise  were  ransacked  by  teachers  to  find 
texts  and  precepts  for  their  pupils.  Collections  of  oracles 
were  made.  Definite  prescriptions  were  dispensed  to 
meet  individual  cases.  The  pathology  of  the  soul  was 
studied  with  a  view  to  know  its  diseases  and  so  to  discover 
remedies.  These  precepts  were  predominantly  negative, 
the  object  being  to  escape  evil  rather  than  attain  righteous- 
ness ;  positive  directions,  however,  are  not  wanting.  It 
was  discovered  that  precepts  are  better  clothed  in  ideals. 
Every  system  had  its  ideal  man,  the  picture  of  what  a  man 
ought  to  be.     Such  ideals  were  creations  of  the  imagina- 

F 


82      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

tion,  dreams  of  man  at  his  best.  They  were  too  elusive  for 
the  majority.  An  ideal  that  had  never  been  incarnated  was 
too  cold  and  powerless.  Accordingly  the  Hellenistic  age  was 
emphatic  in  its  demand  for  examples  to  supplement  pre- 
cepts and  ideals :  we  may  doubt  if  ever,  in  any  age,  morality 
and  religion  were  more  persistently  taught  by  examples. 
Earnest  men  wished  to  behold  beings  of  flesh  and  blood 
and  see  how  they  Uved,  and  from  their  examples  to  draw 
inspiration.  A  real  kind  of  spiritual  hero-worship  resulted. 
All  history  and  legend  was  explored  for  incarnate  examples 
to  teach  men  how  to  live  and  die.  Strangely  enough  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  never  thought  of  looking  to  their  gods 
as  examples ;  Orpheus,  Pythagoras,*  and  others  were  held 
up  before  men's  gaze.  Socrates,  whose  personaHty  was 
greater  than  his  teaching,  now  came  to  his  own  as  the  very 
ideal  of  humanity.  He  became  a  kind  of  pagan  Christ. 
He  himself  in  his  trial  was  strengthened  by  the  example 
of  Palamedes.  Readers  of  Plutarch  remember  how  every- 
thing he  says  is  buttressed,  if  not  by  a  text,  by  an  example 
from  history  or  mythology.  His  Lives  of  outstanding 
Greeks  and  Romans  were  written  with  a  moral  and  didactic 
purpose  :  the  ethical  predominates  over  the  historical 
interest  (cf.  his  own  words,  Timoleon,  ad  init.).  Epictetus 
constantly  reinforces  his  teaching  with  historic  examples, 
especially  that  of  Socrates.  The  practical  Roman  thought 
that  one  of  the  best  methods  of  educating  his  sons  was  by 
an  appeal  to  the  great  men  of  the  past.  Varro  wrote  fifteen 
books  of  parallel  Lives  of  Greeks  and  Romans.  Valerius 
Maximus  composed  his  history  for  educational  purposes : 
he  illustrates  the  gamut  of  virtues  by  examples  from  Roman 
and  Greek  history.  Seneca,  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other 
respects,  reflects  the  need  and  practice  of  his  day  in  the 
famiUar  direction  given  to  Lucilius,  to  keep  constantly 
before  his  mind  the  picture  of  some  upright  man,  and  so 

1  Lives  of  PythagoTM  were  written  by  Porphyry,  lamblichus,  and  Diogenea 
Laertius. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  83 

to  live  as  if  he  were  always  in  his  presence.      Religious 
teachers  felt  the  need  of  an  upUfting  example. 

III.  Demand  foe  a  Universal  Religion 

The  keynote  of  the  day  was  universahsm  :  the  demand 
was  for  a  universal  religion.  The  isolation  of  the  individual 
revealed  common  human  needs.  The  growing  sense  of 
the  unity  of  mankind  created  a  prejudice  against  any 
enchoric  or  national  reUgion.  As  man  was  one,  his  rehgion 
must  be  one.  There  was  a  kindly  tolerance  in  rehgious 
matters.  The  practically  general  belief  in  Monotheism 
led  men  more  eagerly  in  search  of  the  One.  Men  said, 
with  Plutarch,  that  all  worshipped  the  same  god,  his  name 
merely  being  different  in  different  languages.  In  the  days 
of  Cicero  the  universaUty  of  man's  rehgious  nature  was  as 
common  a  tenet  as  when  the  study  of  comparative  rehgions 
began  among  us.  That  there  was  a  demand  for  a  cathoUc 
rehgion  is  further  shown  by  the  interesting  fact  that  every 
hving  religion  became  missionary.  And  philosophy  left 
speculation  to  play  its  part  in  supplying  religious  guidance 
on  strictly  human  and  universal  hnes. 

Eastern  and  Western  Modes  of  Salvation 

Evangels  were  offered  from  East  and  West,  and  men  were 
not  satisfied  as  in  our  day  to  owe  allegiance  to  one  sect  or 
form  of  rehgion  :  they  tried  all.  We  find  a  characteristic 
contrast  between  Western  and  Eastern  methods  of  salvation. 
There  were  two  concurrent  views  of  man  which  we  may 
term  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  :  the  former  exalted 
God,  the  latter  man.  Hebrew  religion  was,  like  all  true 
religion,  theocentric  ;  Greek  culture  anthropocentric  Ex- 
cluding details,  we  may  say  that  God  was  to  the  Hebrew 
transcendent  and  far  exalted  above  man,  who  was  a 
creature  unworthy  to  appear  on  God's  footstool  :  the  lofty 


84      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca. 

thought  of  the  eighth  Psahn,  '  Thou  hast  made  him  a  httle 
lower  than  God,'  did  not  permeate  Hebrew  as  it  did  Greek 
thought.  To  the  Greek  God  was  immanent  and  not  far 
away  from  any  one  of  us  ;  He  was,  as  it  were,  an  exalted 
man,  or  man  raised  to  his  highest  power.  The  sense  of 
sin  was  congenial  to  the  one  temperament,  as  that  of  man's 
native  dignity  to  the  other  :  the  one  needed  grace,  the 
other  beUeved  in  merit.  To  the  Hebrew  man's  spiritual 
constitution  was  weakened  by  pre-natal  sin  and  poisoned 
by  actual  guilt ;  he  is  a  helpless  creature  before  Divine 
justice,  incapable  of  saving  himself.  The  Greek  knew  no 
original  sin  ;  he  was  almost  unconscious  of  the  ravages  of 
moral  evil  in  his  nature ;  he  beheved  he  was  his  own 
saviour  by  exercising,  after  the  illumination  of  wisdom, 
his  personal  will-power. 

Of  the  rehgions  competing  in  the  Empire,  those  of  Greece 
were  philosophical,  appeaUng  primarily  to  the  reason  and 
intellect ;  that  of  Rome  was  wholly  poUtical ;  those  from 
the  Orient  were  most  akin  to  Christianity,  making  their 
appeal  primarily  to  the  heart. 

The  'reUgion'  of  Greece,  an  anthropomorphic  polytheism, 
exerted  its  spiritual  power  chiefly  in  art.  The  Greek  reUgion 
of  Beauty  and  Joy  was  such  an  interpretation  of  nature  as 
to  make  the  Greek  feel  at  home  in  a  world  conceived  as  beauti- 
ful and  peopled  with  fairy  deities ;  but  this  rehgion  had 
no  message  when  the  element  of  trouble  entered  with  an 
enlarging  spiritual  experience.  It  never  enabled  the  Greek 
to  embark  upon  the  Infinite.  It  was  to  her  philosophies 
that  Greece  looked  for  her  evangels  :  it  was  these  that 
endeavoured  to  meet  the  universal  demand  for  support 
{V.  Ch.  VI.). 

Although  Rome  had,  especially  since  the  second  Punic 
war,  despaired  of  her  own  gods,  she  did  not  despair,  in 
her  pohtical  wisdom,  of  suppljring  her  Empire  with  a 
religion  borrowed,  adapted,  or  created  for  the  purpose. 
A  revival,  inaugurated  by  Augustus,  swept   over  Rome 


nr.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  85 

about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  He  reaUsed 
the  moral  confusion  resulting  from  the  civil  strife.  His  re- 
vival of  the  old  reHgion  was  partly  due  to  rehgious  motives, 
but  mainly  to  pohtical.  He  claims  to  have  repaired 
eighty- two  temples  in  Rome.  Throughout  Italy,  and  in 
the  provinces,  new  temples  arose  with  astonishing  rapidity, 
and  dilapidated  temples  were  restored.  The  more  reUgious 
side  of  the  revival  is  represented  by  Virgil,  whose  Aeneid  ia 
a  trumpet-call  to  Rome  to  remember  that  it  owes  its  great- 
ness to  the  goodwill  of  the  deity  and  to  the  reverence  of 
their  fathers.  The  pius  Aeneas  was  intended  to  be  the 
ideal  Roman. 

Imperial  Cult 

The  universal  religion  which  Rome  offered  the  world  was 
a  pohtical  one,  the  cult  of  the  emperors.^  It  was  Roman 
poUcy  to  draw  the  attention  of  all  to  the  centre  of  power, 
and  the  imperial  cult  was  one  of  the  best  means  of  giving 
cohesion  to  a  vast  empire.  This  cult  was  never  intended 
to  persecute  or  displace  national  or  enchoric  faiths,  nor 
to  impose  any  reUgious  dogma.  It  may  seem  very  strange 
to  us,  though  with  our  remnants  of  mediaevalism  and 
feudaUsm  we  are  not  so  far  removed  from  it  as  we  imagine. 
Imperial  apotheosis  was  the  result  of  flattery,  gratitude, 
poUcy,  and  historic  precedent.  Several  historic  causes 
prepared  the  way.  The  Roman  worship  of  the  Manes, 
who  occupied  the  place  of  saints  in  CathoUcism,  was  a 
point  of  departure.  Roman  writers  hke  Cicero  {N.  D.  ii., 
24,  62)  admitted  that  mortals  by  merit  could  be  deified. 
For  a  time  quasi-divine  honours  were  paid  to  men  hke 
Scipio  and  Metellus  Pius.  Contact  with  Greece  and  the 
East  fostered  this  latent  germ.  In  Egypt  the  Pharaohs 
were  adored  as  sons  of  Ra,  the  incarnation  of  God  upon 

1  In  this  section  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  Abbe  Beurlier,  Le  cult  rendu 
%ux  empireurs  romains. 


86      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

earth,  though  not  regarded  as  the  equals  of  God.  The 
monotheism  of  Persia  did  not  permit  such  excessive 
worship,  but  allowed  prostration  before  despots.  Egypt 
and  Persia  transmitted  to  Alexander  and  the  Diadochi 
the  adoration  of  kings  in  their  lifetime.  Phihp  associated 
himself  with  the  immortals.  Alexander  was  adored  as 
an  earthly  deity  by  the  Persians  :  he  was  proclaimed  '  son 
of  Zeus '  by  the  oracle  of  Ammon,  though  his  countrymen 
reluctantly  acknowledged  his  divinity.  The  Ptolemies 
succeeded  to  the  divinity  of  the  Pharaohs,  whereby  double 
allegiance  was  due  them.  The  Seleucids  styled  themselves 
'  saviour  and  god,'  and  appointed  one  priest  to  honour  the 
dead  kings,  and  another  to  honour  the  living  kings  who 
would  one  day  join  the  Celestials.  The  kings  of  Pergamum 
and  Commagene  made  themselves  divine.  The  Greeks 
had  for  long  practised  a  hero-worship,  in  which  men  of 
distinguished  merit  were  regarded  as  quasi-divine  after 
death. 

Julius  Caesar  opened  the  door  for  himself  and  subsequent 
rulers  into  the  Roman  pantheon.  After  PharsaUa  he  was 
acknowledged  as  '  semi-god,'  and  his  statue  was  placed  be- 
side that  of  the  King  of  the  Gods.  He  modestly  refused  the 
position,  until,  seated  securely  in  power,  his  scruples  were 
mitigated  :  a  chair  and  his  statue  were  placed  in  the  circus 
among  the  gods,  and  a  statue  placed  to  him  in  the  temple 
of  Quirinus  inscribed  '  to  the  invincible  God.'  Later  he  be- 
came Jupiter  JuUus  :  a  temple  was  begun  in  honour  of  his 
dementia.  His  acsassination  and  the  appearance  of  the 
comet  secured  his  consecration.  He  was  decreed  divus, 
which  does  not  mean  '  god,'  but  '  divine,'  and  the  senate 
gave  authority  '  to  honour  him  as  a  god.'  An  epidemic  of 
divinity-seeking  now  broke  out  among  the  Romans  :  '  Etre 
dieu,  ou  tout  au  moins  fils  de  dieu,  etait  une  condition 
indispensable  pour  aspirer  a  I'empire  du  monde.'  Sextus 
Pompey  gave  himself  out  as  son  of  Neptune ;  Antony  be- 
came the  new  Dionysus,  whose  worst  quaUties  he  imitated. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  87 

His  exploits  and  the  battle  of  Actium  quenched  his  divinity. 
Octavian  became  Divi  filius,  son  of  the  Divine  ;  but  after 
Actium  flatterers  and  poets  hailed  him  as  a  deity  with  the 
attributes  of  Apollo.  Only  a  god  could  give  the  earth 
such  repose,  according  to  Virgil,  who,  with  Horace,  pro- 
phesied his  apotheosis  as  son  of  Venus.  We  find  him 
addressed  on  inscriptions  as  Zeus  and  son  of  Zeus.  All 
this  was  private  adulation,  but  connived  at  by  Octavian  : 
he  refused  the  titles  Lord  and  God,  accepting  that  of 
Augustus  in  27  B.C.  In  Rome  he  refused  shrines  to  him- 
self, but  we  find  in  Italy  a  cult  addressed  to  him  in  his 
Ufetime.  In  the  provinces  the  cult  spread  most  rapidly  : 
temples  were  raised  to  the  divinity  of  the  emperor  ;  in 
these  he  insisted  that  the  divinity  of  Roma  should  be 
associated  with  himself.  Soon  after  the  provincial  arose 
the  municipal  cult :  Caesar ea  and  August ea  were  erected 
in  every  town  of  importance.  Of  all  the  Caesars  Augustus 
received  the  most  genuine  adoration,  partly  because  of 
his  unique  position,  it  being  the  first  time  in  human  history 
that  one  man  was  so  necessary  to  all,  partly  out  of  gratitude 
for  the  pax  Romana,  partly  because  the  cult  had  not  yet 
been  sullied  by  the  elevation  of  unworthy  rulers,  and  the 
honour  was  not  yet  lessened  by  a  crowd  of  similar  divinities. 
Philo  says  that  '  the  whole  world  regarded  Augustus  as 
equal  to  the  Olympians.'  On  his  death  his  apotheosis  was 
decreed  by  the  senate.  Tiberius  refused  divine  honours 
in  Rome,  but  encouraged  the  provincial  cult.  Cahgula 
was  punctilious  about  his  divinity.  Nero  was  the  first 
Hving  emperor  to  wear  the  corona  radiaia  symbolic  of 
descent  from  the  sun-god.  In  the  first  and  second  centuries 
the  best  emperors  were  content  with  the  name  of  some 
ancient  deity,  expecting  full  divine  honours  only  after 
death  ;  but  in  the  third  they  were  styled  gods,  Domitian 
claimed  the  title  dominus  et  deus  in  his  Hfetime.  Finally 
from  the  East  came  prostration  before  emperors.  The 
most  extravagant  forms  of  the  imperial  cult  belonged  to 


88      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

the  East,  where  emperors  were  addressed  by  such  terms 
as  /x€yio-Tos  dei^v,  ^etoraros,  sacratissimus,  or  *  God,'  '  God 
manifest,'  o-wTrJp  (Saviour),  '  God  the  DeHverer,' '  invincible 
God,'  etc. 

Gradually  the  purely  poHtical  character  of  the  cult  be- 
came manifest  to  all.^  Apotheosis  was  a  civil  honour — the 
ratification  of  the  acts  of  the  dead  emperor — and  was  in 
the  gift  of  the  senate  which  usually  discriminated  wisely, 
rejecting  Tiberius,  CaHgula,  Nero,  Domitian,  and  yet  admit- 
ting the  infamous  Commodus  and  Caracalla.  The  admission 
of  the  emperors'  famihes  and  the  growing  number  of  such 
deifications  lessened  its  glory.  The  claims  of  emperors  Hke 
Caligula  or  Nero  completely  destroyed  the  reUgious  character 
of  the  cult. 

The  imperial  cult  was  Rome's  endeavour  to  supply  to  her 
empire  a  universal  reHgion  as  political  as  was  her  own 
religion.  It  was  intended  as  a  bond  of  union  and  a  sign 
of  the  greatness  and  ubiquity  of  Rome.  The  trend  since 
the  days  of  Alexander  had  been  politically  toward  monarchy 
and  in  reHgion  toward  monotheism.  This  cult  was  one 
in  which  all  could  unite  and  which  represented  a  visible 
unity.  It  strengthened  Roman  authority  and  helped  to 
unify  the  world.  The  living  emperor  was  a  visible  god 
dispensing  justice.  It  discredited  polytheism  by  admitting 
mortals  to  the  privileges  of  deity.  Also  '  prayers  addressed 
to  the  god  Augustus  were  more  surely  answered  than 
those  addressed  to  Jupiter.'  * 

Never  possessed  of  any  refigious  value,  the  imperial  cult 
betrays  in  a  remarkable  way  the  tendency  of  that  age  to 
look  for  an  incarnation  of  deity,  and  to  prefer  a  praesens 
deus  to  all  the  gods  of  polytheism.  When  Christ  was 
preached  as  Son  of  God  who  had  tabernacled  among 
men,  such  an  idea  was  not  unfamiliar  to  the  people  of 
that  day,  who  recoiled  less  from  it  than  some  do  now. 

1  In  the  first  two  centuries  the  populace  had  a  real  belief  in  the  divinity  of 
the  Augusti—Benrlier,  p.  321.  »  Beurlier,  p.  319. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  89 

There  were  plenty  of  nonconformists.  The  emperors 
never  insisted  on  strict  conformity  :  in  the  provinces  the 
cult  was  a  convenient  means  of  detecting  any  disloyalty. 
In  its  palmiest  days  the  educated  classes  smiled  at  a 
practice  which  was  only  an  act  of  civil  homage.  Roman 
emperors  doubted  their  own  divinity.  Seneca's  Apocolo- 
cyntosis  turns  to  ridicule  Claudius's  apotheosis.  Vespasian 
jested  on  his  deathbed  about  his  becoming  a  god.  The 
chief  nonconformists  were  RepubUcans,  Jews,  and 
Christians.  The  first  were  foremost  in  the  senate  to  oppose 
apotheosis,  as  did  Thrasea  (Tac,  Ann.,  xvi.  21) ;  they  even 
refused  to  swear  by  the  genius  of  the  emperor.  The  Jews 
were  more  stubborn,  but  too  powerful  to  antagonise :  they 
were  excused  in  this  as  in  other  acts  of  religious  non- 
conformity. The  relations  of  Christianity  to  the  imperial 
cult  belong  to  church  history. 

Oriental  Religions 

It  was  toward  the  East  that  the  Graeco-Roman  world 
turned  to  find  spiritual  support :  the  conquest  of  the 
Empire  by  Oriental  reUgions  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
facts  of  rehgious  history.  The  aesthetic  religion  of  Greece 
and  the  institutional  rehgion  of  Rome  lost  their  charm 
before  the  emotional,  mystic,  salvation-reHgions  of  the 
East.  The  Magna  Mater  was  introduced  from  Pessinus, 
the  Syrian  goddess  and  Baals  came  from  Syria,  Isis  and 
Serapis  from  Egypt,  Mithra  from  Persia,  Jupiter  DoUchenus 
from  Commagene.  It  is  difiicult  to  explain  the  enthraUing 
charm  of  these  Eastern  faiths  which  in  the  beginning  were 
gross  and  naturaHstic,  but  with  the  progressive  moral 
sense  of  man  were  purified  into  means  of  grace.  *In 
times  of  moral  renovation,  and  in  face  of  powerful  spiritual 
rivalries,  a  religion  may  purge  itself  of  the  impurities  of 
youth.  Religious  systems  may  also  be  elevated  by  the 
growing  refinement  of  the  society  to  which  they  minister. 


90      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

It  i3  only  thus  that  we  can  explain  the  undoubted  fact 
that  the  Phrygian  and  Egyptian  worships,  originally 
tainted  with  the  grossness  of  naturaUsm,  became  vehicles 
of  a  warm  reUgious  emotion,  and  provided  a  stimulus  to 
a  higher  life.  The  ideahsm  of  humanity,  by  a  strange 
alchemy,  can  marvellously  transform  the  most  unpromis- 
ing materials.'  ^  We  may  attribute  the  success  of  the 
Oriental  reUgions  to  three  causes :  (1)  favouring  circum- 
stances, (2)  their  organisation  and  methods,  (3)  their 
intrinsic  merits  and  abihty  to  foster  and  partially  meet 
spiritual  wants. 

(1)  They  entered  the  Empire  at  a  time  when  national 
rehgion  was  discredited,  when  men  who  had  lost  faith  in 
the  rehgion  of  their  fathers  were  wiUing  to  experiment 
with  any  substitute.  There  were  hosts  of  Eastern  slaves 
whose  zeal  for  their  gods  seemed  to  grow  more  intense 
when  living  among  masters  who  had  lost  their  religion. 
Eastern  merchants,  retailers,  and  speculators  carried  their 
ancestral  faith  over  the  Empire,  as  also  did  the  hosts  of 
recruits  from  the  East  who  served  in  the  Roman  armies. 
The  success  attending  Roman  arms  after  the  introduction  of 
the  first  Eastern  deity,  the  Great  Mother,  gave  her  prestige 
from  the  beginning.  She  became  sponsor  for  later  invaders 
who  sheltered  themselves  from  persecution  as  her  proteges. 
From  the  days  of  Herodotus  and  Plato  the  eyes  of  the 
West  were  turning  toward  the  Morningland  for  enhghten- 
ment  in  rehgion  ;  the  first  religious  revival  experienced  in 
Greece  (in  the  sixth  century)  was  due  to  Eastern  influences. 
The  Oriental  reHgions  were  the  only  rehgions  that  could 
thrive  outside  the  original  territory  of  their  god,  and  keep 
pace  with  the  tendencies  of  the  day — they  fostered  syncre- 
tism, maintained  the  unity  of  mankind,  helped  to  mono- 
theism through  their  henotheism ;  they  abounded  in 
mysticism,  advocated  asceticism,  and  satisfied  emotional 
and  individualistic  demands.  (2)  They  invaded  the  West 
Dill,  p.  664. 


ly.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  91 

encircled  with  the  hoary  authority  of  a  venerable  past, 
with  esoteric  doctrines,  estabUshed  dogma,  and  a  well 
organised  priesthood.  From  the  beginning  they  were 
missionary  and  proselytising  faiths,  Uke  Judaism ;  as 
such  they  were  religions  of  enthusiasm.  They  beheved 
in  themselves  and  in  their  mission.  No  Eastern  slave  or 
trader  ever  forgot  the  god  of  his  fathers.  They  were 
universal  rehgions,  not  enchoric,  intended  to  embrace  all 
nations.  The  only  rehgion  of  the  West  that  spread  east- 
ward was  the  official  imperial  cult  backed  by  the  might  of 
Rome,  but  as  a  reUgion  it  never  became  a  competitor  with 
Eastern  rehgions ;  whereas  the  cults  from  the  East  spread 
to  the  ends  of  the  Empire  and  were  as  much  at  home  at 
York,  on  the  Rhine,  or  on  the  borders  of  the  Sahara,  as 
in  their  native  territory.  No  national  or  racial  distinction 
was  maintained.  These  rehgions  were  brotherhoods  in 
which  rich  and  poor,  slave  and  master,  were  united.  A 
slave  found  there  his  lost  liberty  ;  he  might  be  president 
of  the  local  brotherhood  in  which  his  master  was  only  a 
private  member  or  an  acolyte.  In  these  rehgious  guilds 
men  found  that  fellowship  and  sympathy  which  were 
missed  in  a  vast  empire.  Many  a  slave  and  soldier  after 
long  hours  of  toil  must  have  been  refreshed  by  the  com- 
panionship of  a  few  initiated  who  met  together  to  contem- 
plate the  symbols  of  the  deity,  and  to  join  in  hymn  and 
ritual.  It  was  a  decidedly  democratic  era,  and  these  rehgions 
were  democratic.  Like  Christianity,  they  began  with  the 
lower  classes  and  worked  upward.  Rank  and  birth  did 
not  count.  The  populace  was  captivated  by  the  impressive 
pomp  and  ritual,  by  the  excitement  which  appealed  to 
the  senses :  the  eye  and  ear  were  pleased  as  well  as  the 
heart.  They  were  sacerdotal  cults  in  the  hands  of  a 
professional  priesthood  which  explained  the  meaning  of 
symbohc  acts  to  the  people,  and  claimed  the  authority 
of  a  long  tradition.  These  cults  represented  the  '  free 
churches,'  into  the  membership  of  which  a  man  did  not 


92      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

enter  by  birth,  or  as  a  matter  of  course.  They  were 
not  state-supported.  Man  values  his  spiritual  wares  pro- 
portionately to  the  price  they  cost  him ;  so  these  cults 
were  all  the  more  valuable  in  that  they  were  supported  on 
the  voluntary  system.  The  contributions  to  the  support 
of  the  priesthood  and  to  the  treasury  of  the  guilds  must 
often  have  called  forth  self-denial.  Oriental  creeds  at  first 
won  their  way  because  of  the  clamour  of  the  populace,  but 
from  the  days  of  the  Antonines  through  the  sympathies 
of  emperors  who  found  in  them  a  doctrine  akin  to  that 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings.  With  the  exception  of 
Mithraism,  women  played  a  prominent  part  in  all  Eastern 
cults,  which  had  a  special  attraction  for  their  sex.  (3)  All 
these  considerations  would  have  been  ineffectual  had  not 
Oriental  religions  met  and  partially  satisfied  refigious 
needs.  They  confronted  rationalism  and  scepticism  with 
faith  in  established  dogma,  whereas  Greece  and  Rome  had 
no  system  of  theology.  They  claimed  to  have  a  certain 
authority  over  the  spirit :  they  had  a  message  for  the 
individual ;  like  Christianity  they  aimed  at  universahsm 
through  individualism.  They  were  to  a  considerable 
extent  ethical :  man  could  not  in  his  natural  state  approach 
a  holy  God.  He  must  humble  himself  and  purify  himself 
from  sin.  Rites  of  purification  were  characteristic  of  them 
all.  Asceticism  and  self-denial  were  enforced  on  special 
occasions.  The  soul  must  be  cleansed  from  the  impurities 
of  flesh  and  matter  to  enjoy  the  beatific  vision.  This  was 
accomplished  by  mortifications  and  penances,  by  lustra- 
tions and  ablutions  in  holy  water — a  '  veritable  spiritual 
disinfection.'  The  chief  charm  of  these  cults  lay  in  their 
appeal  to  the  emotions,  which  also  caused  grave  moral 
aberrations.  They  aroused  in  the  worshipper  hope,  fear, 
pain,  joy,  ecstasy.  The  services  were  warm,  interesting, 
and  enthralling  as  compared  with  the  formal  prosaic  state- 
cult.  The  initiated  could  enter  the  little  chapel  with  a 
few  comrades  to  gaze  upon  the  sacred  symbols,  to  hear  the 


IV.)  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  93 

priests  explaining  and  applying  the  lesson  to  man's  own 
life,  to  join  in  prayer  and  hymn  and  feel  hfted  above  the 
earthly.  There  is  in  every  true  religion  a  large  element 
of  mysticism,  and  these  cults  encouraged  mysticism.  We 
trace  this  in  the  rites  used  to  enable  the  worshipper  to 
rise  above  the  sensible  and  material,  and  in  the  confessions 
put  into  the  Hps  of  the  initiated  whereby  they  claim  to 
have  escaped  from  evil  and  attained  the  better.  By 
mortifications,  by  fasting,  by  exhilarating  music,  by  self- 
mutilation,  by  drugs  and  stimulants  they  endeavoured 
to  rise  into  another  state  in  which  they  were  united  with 
the  Deity.  To  surmount  the  ills  of  duahsm  in  union 
with  the  Deity  or  apotheosis  was  their  aspiration. 

The  Deity  was  more  human  than  those  of  Greece  and 
Rome ;  the  Eastern  gods  could  die  and  rise  again,  could 
suffer  and  enjoy.  They  understood  better  how  to  comfort. 
In  a  remarkable  passage  in  the  prosaic  treatise  On  Isis  and 
Osiris  (27),  Plutarch  says  that  Isis  has  not  grown  obUvious 
of  her  own  toils  and  sufferings,  and  is  present  in  the  repre- 
sentations of  these  past  sufferings  to  console  humanity 
in  its  trials — a  mater  dolorosa.^  These  cults  offered 
strength  and  spiritual  support  by  bringing  men  into  union 
with  sympathetic  gods.  The  priests,  unhke  the  busy 
secular  priests  of  Greece  and  Rome,  undertook  spiritual 
guidance,  gave  directions  how  men  were  to  escape  from 
the  evils  of  duahsm,  and  prescriptions  for  quieting  an 
uneasy  conscience.  The  chief  means  of  sacramental 
grace  were  the  mysteries,  and  the  chief  promise  was  a 
blessed  immortality. 

IV.  Higher  Ideas  of  God  and  Man 

Higher  ideas  of  God  and  of  man  prevailed  in  this  period. 
From  the  beginning  of  time  the  existence  and  necessity 
of  the  Supernatural  were  felt.    As  the  moral  and  spiritual 

1  Cf.  also  Apul.,  Met.,  xi.  25. 


94      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

education  of  man  advanced  there  was  an  expansion  in 
the  conception  of  God.  The  Greek  was  working  for  man, 
the  Hebrew  for  God  ;  these  met  in  the  Graeco-Roman 
world  to  carry  on  their  simultaneous  mission. 


Monotheism 

A  belifiiin  the  unity  of  God  was  one  of  the  most  marked 
advances.  Of  this  the  Jews  were  the  first  missionaries, 
who  '  had  a  passion  for  monotheism  in  their  blood.'  A 
movement  set  in  toward  monotheism  from  the  earliest 
days  of  Greek  philosophy  and  in  Greek  tragedy.  The 
first  problem  that  Greek  thought  set  itself  was  to  discover 
the  One  amid  the  many,  unity  amid  plurahty.  Xeno- 
phanes  said  '  the  best  can  only  be  One.'  Many  paths  led 
to  monotheism.  Philosophers  first  attacked  polytheism  : 
only  confusion  could  reign  in  the  universe  so  long  as  it  was« 
partitioned  out  among  different  and  often  hostile  deities.! 
Antisthenes  said  '  there  are  many  Gods  according  to  law, 
but  only  One  according  to  nature,'  and  Xenophanes, 
*  there  is  one  God,  among  gods  and  men  the  greatest, 
unhke  mortals  in  outer  shape,  unlike  in  mind  and  thought.' 
Some  rejected  the  popular  gods,  replacing  them  by  an 
abstract  monotheism  ;  some  regarded  them  as  manifesta- 
tions or  modes  of  the  One  ;  a  more  usual  method  was  to 
elevate  one  and  make  the  others  his  vassals,  like  Zeus  among 
the  Greeks,  and  Jupiter  among  the  Romans,  or  to  choose 
a  trinity  Uke  the  CapitoUne  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Minerva. 
As  universaHsm  and  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  mankind 
spread  it  was  natural  to  suppose  that  all  men  stood  in  the 
same  relation  to  the  same  God.  If  one  man  could  rule 
the  world,  surely  one  God  could  rule  the  universe.  The 
syncretism  of  the  age  was  in  no  respect  so  active  as  in  its 
blending  of  gods  into  one.  Deities  of  different  peoples 
exerting  the  same  functions  were  identified.  It  was 
maintained,  as  by  Plutarch,  that  the  gods  of  all  nations 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  95 

are  the  same,  only  called  by  different  names  in  different 
languages.  Expressions  like  '  the  gods '  were  used  by 
force  of  habit  without  meaning  pluraUty.  It  was  only 
natural  that  the  old  terminology  should  hnger.  Maximus 
of  Tyre  says  that  the  names  of  the  gods  are  many  but 
their  essence  one,  their  names  being  due  to  our  ignorance, 
just  as  we  speak  of  Ionian,  Aegean,  and  Cretan  seas,  though 
there  is  only  one  sea.  Some  of  the  Church  fathers,  Justin, 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  TertuUian,  and  Lactantius,  admitted 
that  pagans  beUeved  in  the  unity  of  God.  The  philo- 
sophic monotheism  of  Plato,  in  which  the  idea  of  Good  and 
God  coincided,  was  widely  spread  as  Platonism  became 
a  spiritual  force  in  the  Empire.  Hatch  says  of  the  latter 
portion  of  our  period  :  '  It  was  an  age  in  which  men  were 
feeling  after  God  and  not  feeUng  in  vain,  and  that  from 
the  domains  of  ethics,  physics,  metaphysics  aUke,  from 
the  depths  of  the  moral  consciousness,  and  from  the  cloud- 
lands  of  poets'  dreams,  the  ideas  of  men  were  trooping  in 
one  vast  host  to  proclaim  with  a  united  voice  that  there 
are  not  many  gods  but  only  One,  one  First  Cause  by  whom 
all  things  were  made,  one  Moral  Governor  whose  providence 
was  over  all  His  works,  one  Supreme  Being  ''  of  infinite 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness."  '  ^ 

Goodness  and  Providence  of  Ood 

\  There  was  a  practically  universal  faith  in  the  goodness 
jand  love  of  God.  Plato  argues  that  God  can  be  only  the 
author  of  good.  Seneca  holds  that  as  God  is  our  father 
we  may  expect  only  good  from  Him.  Celsus  tells  Origen 
that  God  is  good  and  free  from  jealousy.  A  frequently 
recurring  thought  in  Epictetus,  Plutarch,  and  Maximus 
of  Tyre  is  the  goodness  of  God.  As  the  idea  spread 
that  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God,  there  went  with 
it  the  faith  that  God  could  maintain  only  a  sympathetic 

1  Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages,  p.  14, 


96      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

attitude  to  His  creatures.  The  ancient  world  of  Judaism 
and  of  Paganism  had  begun  dimly  to  conceive  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  which  was  to  be  so  fully  revealed  in  Christ. 

The  Providence  of  God  was  a  common  conception.* 
God  was  viewed  as  the  one  all- seeing  and  all-governing 
power,  the  Creator  who  watches  over  all  His  works,  and  in 
a  special  manner  over  men  who  are  His  '  relatives.*  The 
adoption  of  means  to  ends,  the  dependence  of  cause  on 
cause  reaching  back  to  God,  was  as  famiUar  then  as 
now.  The  universe  was  neither  made  nor  governed  at 
random.  Anaxagoras  had  long  ago  made  Mind  the 
regulator  and  governor  of  all.  Socrates  appeals  to  the 
universal  beUef  in  the  existence  and  Providence  of  God 
as  proof  of  its  truth  :  as  the  soul  manages  the  body  so 
Providence  does  the  world ;  the  Divine  sees,  hears,  and  cares 
for  all.  Socrates  reminds  his  judges  that  a  good  man's 
interests  are  not  neglected  by  the  Deity,  nor  had  his 
trial  and  condemnation  happened  accidentally.  Plato 
recognises  a  reasoning  Intelligence  as  ruling  the  world. 
Aristotle,  it  is  true,  rejected  Providence,  as  did  also  the 
Epicureans.  In  spite  of  these  exceptions  faith  in  God's 
Providence  steadily  grew.  The  Stoics  used  many  argu- 
ments to  estabhsh  their  contention  for  Providence,  appeal- 
ing to  the  generally  accepted  beUef,  and  to  the  argument 
from  God's  perfection  and  foreknowledge.  They  desig- 
nated their  universal  law  sometimes  Nature  and  sometimes 
Providence.  Their  Providence  was  concerned  primarily 
with  the  universal,  and  only  secondarily  with  the  individual 
in  his  relation  to  the  whole.  The  Providence  and  goodness'' 
of  God  is  an  article  of  faith  with  Cicero,  Plutarch,  Seneca,- 
Epictetus,  AureUus.  So  firm  was  this  faith  that  prayer( 
was  regarded  as  unnecessary  :  God  may  be  trusted  to  givel 
what  is  needed  and  good  for  us.  This  Providence  was  not  \ 
capricious — not  that  of  a  despot.    Fate,  Fortune,  Necessity  j 

1  Friedlander,  Roman  Life  and  Manners^  iii.  145.     Cf.  Cic,  de  Legg., 
ii.  7.  16. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  97 

were  identified  with  God,  or  otherwise  brought  under  His ! 
sway,  or  made  His  ministers  in  the  education  of  good  men. ; 


Moral  Government 

To  the  Graeco-Roman  world  the  mystery  of  the  moral 
government  of  the  universe  was  perplexing.  There  was 
much  that  apparently  could  not  be  easily  reconciled  with 
faith  in  Providence.  Only  a  limited  number  could  accept  the 
comfortless  theory  of  the  Epicureans  whose  gods  enjoyed 
an  immortahty  of  repose,  contemplating  only  their  own 
perfection,  free  from  all  care  for  the  sorrows  of  men.  On 
thoughtful  minds  the  question  pressed  :  ^^^ly  so  much 
evil  in  the  world  of  a  beneficent  Creator  ?  why  do  the 
wicked  profit  equally  with  the  good  by  the  gifts  of  Provi- 
dence ?  why  do  the  wicked  prosper  while  the  righteous 
suffer  calamity  ?  why  do  God's  judgments  fall  upon  the 
guiltless  ?  The  old  world  stood  sobered  before  such  pro- 
blems ;  they  reaHsed  that  there  are  domains  in  which 
only  faith  can  say  the  last  word.  They  offered  tentative 
answers  :  that  a  good  and  wise  God  would  do  all  for  the 
best,  that  God  could  not  in  a  general  providence  benefit 
the  good  without  conferring  blessing  on  the  evil.  It  was 
better  to  benefit  all  than  allow  the  righteous  to  suffer  in 
a  general  dearth  :  God  could  not  make  the  sunshine  fall 
only  on  the  good,  neither  could  He  make  the  same  wind 
advantageous  to  the  good  and  disastrous  to  the  bad,  nor 
cause  the  showers  to  fall  only  on  the  fields  of  the  righteous, 
as  Seneca  remarks.  But  where  apparent  discrimination 
comes  in,  as  in  the  loss  of  children  or  wealth,  the  problem 
was  more  acute.  Faith  suggested  that  calamity  tries 
the  good  man  and  makes  him  Hke  God.  Suffering  may  be 
Hke  the  pain  of  a  surgical  operation,  for  lasting  good  and 
health.  The  Stoics  held  that  suffering  is  not  penal. 
Democritus  remarked  that  he  had  never  seen  anything 
more  wretched  than  the  man  who  had  never  suffered 

G 


98      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

calamity.  Paganism  believed  that  whom  God  loves  He 
chastens/  that  virtue  can  only  live  and  grow  under  trial. 
Or  God  sent  suffering  that  mankind  might  have  examples 
of  strength  Uke  Socrates,  or  He  might  by  showing  favour 
to  a  good  man's  descendants  elevate  such  a  scoundrel  as 
Cahgula — the  Roman  form  of  the  Judaic  '  merits  of  the 
fathers.'  Another  method  of  exonerating  God  was  found 
in  the  prevalent  duahsm  of  East  and  West,  by  presuming 
that  evil  was  the  work  of  demons  intermediary  between 
God  and  men.  Evil  and  good  were  engaged  in  eternal 
conflict,  and  evil  is  necessary  to  give  scope  and  exercise 
to  good.  Some,  burdened  with  this  thought,  looked  for- 
ward to  an  ultimate  triumph  of  good  over  evil,  when 
Ormuzd  would  exterminate  Ahriman,  or  when  in  the 
Messianic  kingdom  evil  would  disappear 

There  was  another  short  cut  as  f amihar  to  the  ancients 
as  to  us — a  simple  denial  of  the  existence  of  evil.  Thus 
the  ancient  world  not  only  protested  against  what  seemed 
divine  oppression,  but  it  did  all  that  the  human  spirit 
could  do  to  '  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man,'  and  defend 
God's  moral  character. 


Dignity  o}  Man 

Man  is  elevated  in  proportion  to  his  conception  of  God  : 
the  hoher  and  purer  God  is,  the  more  righteous  must  man 
be.  When  God's  love  becomes  equally  prominent  with 
His  power,  man  is  the  recipient  of  His  goodness :  the 
nearer  the  approach  to  God  the  larger  becomes  man's 
spiritual  Ufe  and  outlook.  We  have  already  referred  to 
the  two  concurrent  views  of  man,  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Greek  ;  the  former  dwelHng  rather  on  the  weakness  and 
sinfulness  of  man,  the  latter  on  the  inherent  dignity  of 
human  nature  with  a  proud  self-reHance.     The  former  is 

1  '  Hos  itaqae  deus  qaos  probat,  quos  amat,  indurat,  recognoscit,  exercet.' — 

Sen.,  De  Prov.^  4,  7. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  99 

the  more  religious  view.  The  dignity  of  man  and  hia 
kinship  with  the  Divine  was  a  common  thought  in 
ancient  Paganism  :  '  Through  the  course  of  Greek  rehgious 
thought  a  single  thread  may  be  traced,  in  the  essential 
unity  of  man  and  God.'  ^  Paul  had  noticed  this :  '  As 
certain  also  of  your  own  poets  (plural)  have  said,  "  for  we 
are  His  offspring."  '  The  gulf  between  man  and  his  im- 
manent God  was  never  so  wide  as  that  between  the  Hebrew 
and  his  transcendent  God.  Some  gods  were  only  deified 
men  raised  to  heaven  for  services  to  mankind.  Pantheism 
brought  God  within  the  reach  of  man.  Greek  anthropo- 
morphism at  first  conceived  God  as  made  in  the  image 
of  man,  as  when  Xenophanes  asserted  (attacking  anthro- 
pomorphic polytheism),  that  the  negroes  depict  God  as 
black  and  flat-nosed,  the  Thracians  as  red-haired  and  with 
blue  eyes ;  and  if  oxen,  Hons,  and  horses  could  conceive 
of  God,  they  would  represent  him  as  an  ox,  a  Hon,  a  horse. 
Later  Greek  thought  conceived  man  as  made  in  the  image 
of  God.  Plato  opened  the  way  for  that  divine  discontent 
and  boundless  aspiration  by  which  man  seeks  to  escape 
from  the  evils  of  dualism  and  from  the  prison  and  tomb  of 
the  soul,  to  find  scope  for  his  higher  nature  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  Divine  and  Abiding  :  our  souls  seek  to  return 
to  God  whence  they  came,  for  with  God  is  our  true  home 
and  fatherland.  We  are  a  '  heavenly  plant.'  In  the  later 
schools  we  find  a  growing  conviction  of  the  kinship  of  man 
with  the  Divine  :  a  conviction  that 

*  L'homme  est  un  dieu  tombe  qui  se  souvient  des  cieux.* 

Cicero  finds  this  thought  congenial :  we  are  the  '  relatives ' 
of  God.  According  to  Seneca,  God  is  our  father ;  our 
Divine  origin  calls  us  above.  '  Between  good  men  and  the 
gods  is  a  friendship  founded  on  virtue.  Friendship,  do 
I  say  ?  nay,  rather  an  intimacy  and  Hkeness,  for  a  good 
man  only  differs  in  point  of  time  from  God  whose  disciple 

1  Mrs.  Adam.  Greek  Ideals  of  Righteousness,  p.  67. 


100    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [cH. 

and  imitator  he  is  and  His  offspring.'  We  as  part  of  God 
contemplate  our  Parent,  says  Manilius.  Epictetus  was 
foremost  in  using  this  idea  in  a  practical  way  to  elevate 
the  lives  of  men.  He  asks  why  should  not  a  rational 
being  call  himself  '  a  son  of  God  ?  .  .  .  Shall  kinship 
with  Caesar,  or  any  other  great  man,  enable  us  to  live 
secure  ?  .  .  .  And  shall  not  the  fact  that  God  is  our 
Maker,  Father,  Guardian,  free  us  from  all  sorrow  and 
anxiety  ?  '  '  Do  you  think  that  God  would  suffer  His  own 
son  to  be  enslaved  ? '  SimpHcius  in  his  famous  prayer 
requested  his  Father  and  Saviour  to  make  us  mindful  of 
the  noble  origin  'Thou  hast  deemed  worthy  to  confer 
upon  us.' 

Worth  of  the  Soul 

Side  by  side  with  this  conviction  of  the  Divine  in  man, 
with  the  increasing  desire  for  immortahty  and  the  yearning 
for  salvation,  the  worth  of  the  soul  became  more  apparent. 
From  the  days  of  Socrates  and  Plato,  Paganism  was 
learning  to  ask,  '  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul,  or  what  shall 
a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  '  The  exceeding 
preciousness  of  the  soul  is  prominent  in  all  the  great  works 
of  Plato,  especially  in  the  Phaedo,  the  noblest  work  ever 
penned  by  a  Pagan.  The  whole  business  of  a  worthy  life 
is  to  disengage  the  Psyche  from  the  pollution  of  the  flesh, 
maintain  it  in  communion  with  the  Good  and  Beautiful, 
and  after  death  restore  it  to  God  in  a  condition  fit  for  the 
fruition  of  endless  felicity.  There  is  not  space  here  to 
point  out  the  difference  between  the  Platonic  intellectuaUsm 
of  salvation  and  the  Christian  conception  ;  but  never  was 
the  higher  life  of  man  more  exalted  above  the  life  of  sense. 
In  the  Graeco-Roman  world  the  political  conditions  that 
in  Plato's  own  day  rendered  men  deaf  to  his  lofty  spiritu- 
ality were  removed,  and  his  great  truths  spread  to  larger 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  101 

audiences.  In  the  moralists  and  preachers  of  the  Empire 
we  find  great  emphasis  upon  the  high  origin  and  worth  of 
the  soul,  and  the  saving  of  it  was  a  matter  of  engrossing 
interest.  The  individuahsm  of  the  age  brought  men 
face  to  face  with  their  inner  Ufe.  Oriental  rehgions 
deepened  the  conviction  of  the  worth  of  the  soul  and  the 
imperative  need  of  its  salvation.  Men  were  wiUing  to 
practise  asceticism,  take  lustral  baths,  undertake  weary 
and  expensive  pilgrimages,  seek  initiations  in  every 
mystery,  undergo  or  inflict  self-mutilation,  struggle  with 
demonic  powers — all  for  the  health  of  the  soul.  In  the 
regnant  dualism  the  soul  was  winning,  while  the  body  was 
steadily  losing. 

Immortality 

Closely  connected  with  a  beUef  in  God  and  in  the  worth 
of  man  is  the  doctrine  of  immortahty.  When  we  reflect 
what  a  veil  of  mystery  is  drawn  over  the  grave  even  for 
the  Christian,  we  shall  not  be  astonished  to  find  that 
the  pagan  world  without  a  revelation  was  troubled  by 
uncertainty.  As  thought  in  Greece  and  Rome  was  free 
from  clerical  sway,  men  could  speculate  as  they  pleased. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  belief  in  immortahty  that  arrests 
our  attention  in  this  period,  as  the  interest  which  the 
subject  created  even  in  those  who  probed  it  only  to 
flout.  The  yearning  for  continued  existence  was  one 
symptom  of  the  individuahsm  of  the  age.  As  death 
became  more  of  a  personal  loss  it  was  felt  to  be  so  intoler- 
ably oppressive  that  we  can  still  hear  the  repeated  desire 
for  reunion.  Men  were  peering  wistfully  into  the  Beyond  : 
'  They  were  stretching  out  their  hands  in  longing  for  the^ 
farther  shore,'  says  Virgil.  '  Thfe inextinguishable  instinct/ 
of  humanity  craves  for  a  voice  of  revelation  to  solve  th^ 
mystery  of  Ufe  and  death.' 

So  tenacious  was  the  racial  consciousness  among  the 


102    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Jews  that  it  was  only  after  the  Exile  they  felt  much  need 
of  immortaUty,  and  it  was  apparently  in  the  trying 
Maccabean  days  that  they  demanded  an  individual  immor- 
tahty  for  the  righteous,  and  then  for  the  wicked.  Job 
had  long  before  expressed  the  yearning  for  another  life 
(see  p.  27). 

The  earUest  Greek  (Homeric)  conception  of  the  existence 
beyond  was  that  of  a  Hfe  so  thin  and  gloomy  that  it  was 
better  to  serve  as  a  hirehng  upon  earth  than  to  reign  in 
Hades  :  moreover,  it  did  not  possess  any  moral  worth 
except  in  the  torment  of  a  few  egregious  sinners.  The 
Hesiodic  Islands  of  the  Blest  are  reserved  for  a  f  ewfavourites 
of  the  gods.  The  earhest  promise  of  a  happier  lot  such  as 
would  render  a  continuance  of  Ufe  desirable  is  made  to  the 
initiated  in  the  Hymn  to  Demeter.  The  Dionysiac  and 
Orphic  reUgious  brotherhoods,  entering  Greece  at  the  close 
of  the  seventh  century,  inculcated  the  doctrine  of  immor- 
taHty :  their  teachings  were  taken  up  and  spread  by  the 
Pythagoreans  and  Pindar,  and  later  by  Plato.  In  Pindar 
existence  beyond  has  taken  on  brighter  colours,  and  has 
been  moraHsed.  The  next  important  epoch  begins  with 
Plato,  to  whom  we  shall  return. 

The  Romans  had,  from  the  earhest  times,  a  beKef  in 
continued  existence  on  which  later  an  ethical  immortality 
could  be  ingrafted.  The  cult  of  the  dead,  in  its  brighter 
aspect,  as  the  Manes  who  were  propitious,  and  in  its  gloomier 
aspect,  the  Lemures  who  were  malevolent,  is  typically 
Roman.  But  here,  too,  Roman  faith  was  driven  by  its 
penury  to  Greece,  whose  eschatology  she  appropriated,  and 
through  Greece  that  of  Orphism  and  Pythagoreanism. 

In  the  Graeco-Roman  age  the  question  of  immortaUty 
was  much  discussed.  There  were  materiaUsts  who  denied 
and  sceptics  who  doubted.  Among  those  who  desired  it 
there  were  various  grades  of  faith.  As  Socrates  was  to 
this  period  a  kind  of  pagan  Christ,  and  Plato  came  to  his 
own,  it  is  worth  while  to  begin  with  them.     The  Socrates 


IT.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  103 

of  Xenophon  says  nothing  upon  the  question :  the  argu- 
ments put  into  his  mouth  in  the  Phaedo  are  those  of  Plato. 
Socrates  argues  that  death  is  a  boon  :  either  it  is  a  dream- 
less sleep  or  a  journey  to  where  are  the  true  judges  and  the 
renowned  dead  {Apol.  40,  A.  f .) .  He  closes  his  defence  with 
the  words,  '  Now  it  is  the  hour  to  depart,  I  to  die,  you  to 
live  ;  which  of  us  enters  into  the  better  lot  is  hidden  from 
all  save  God  only.'  The  '  divine  Plato '  was  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  the  behef  to  after  ages.  He  intellectuaUsed 
the  ritual  and  ceremonies  of  Orphism  which  brought 
immortahty  to  Greece,  and  imbibed  from  Pythagoreanism 
all  the  satisfaction  it  had  to  offer  to  a  mystical  world- 
weary  spirit.  After  much  independent  reflection  and 
enlarged  spiritual  experience,  he  completed — especially  in 
the  Phaedrus,  Symposium,  and  Phaedo — the  lofty  structure 
from  which  historic  Christianity  has  borrowed  so  many 
stones.  He  dwells  upon  the  divine  origin  of  the  soul,  its 
spiritual  nature,  its  pre-existence,  its  longing  to  return  to 
its  home,  its  defiance  of  all  diseases  both  of  the  body 
and  those  which  attack  itself.  His  Ufe  beyond  is  dis- 
tinguished by  moral  values,  i.e.  his  immortahty  is  ethical. 
Plato's  labour  of  love  is  '  the  noblest  single  offering  that 
himian  reason  has  yet  laid  upon  the  altar  of  human  hope.'  ^ 
Aristotle  offered  little  hope.  He  defined  the  soul  as  the 
entelechy  of  the  body  ;  only  one  part  of  the  soul  is  immortal, 
active  reason,  which  persists  as  incorporeal  spirit,  but  in 
such  a  fashion  as  to  render  personal  immortahty  very  doubt- 
ful, if  not  impossible ;  for  the  dead  are  not  happy  being 
deprived  of  self-consciousness.  The  Peripatetics  rejected 
immortahty.  The  Stoics  usually  admitted  that  the  soul 
survived  till  the  conflagration ;  some  like  Panaetius  denied 
even  this.  The  Epicureans  were  the  apostles  of  annihila- 
tion. Lucretius — another  Omar  Khayyam — contemplates 
bla^nk  nothingness  and  extinction  of  all  desire  in  the  leti 

1  Geddes,  Phaedo  of  Plato,  p.  xxvii.,  cited  in  Salmond,  Christian  Doctrine 
of  Immortality,  p.  149. 


104    THE  ENVIRONIVIEXT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

secura  quies.  Sallust  {Cat.  51-2)  represents  Caesar,  the 
high-priest  of  Roman  religion,  as  opposing  the  simple 
death  penalty  proposed  for  the  CatiHnarian  conspira- 
tors, because  '  death  puts  a  period  to  all  human  ills, 
and  beyond  the  grave  there  is  no  opportunity  for  either 
anxiety  or  joy '  ;  in  this  opinion  Cato  Uticensis  con- 
curs. Cicero  also  refers  to  it  {In  Cat.,  iv.  4,  7),  without 
any  contradiction.  Thus  this  famous  trio  denied  all 
moral  nexus  between  this  life  and  the  next.  Catullus — 
the  Shelley  of  antiquity  —  anticipates  *  one  perpetual 
night '  closing  down  on  his  love  for  Lesbia,  and  on 
a  sadder  occasion,  by  his  brother's  grave,  he  takes  an 
everlasting  hopeless  farewell.  Horace  in  exquisite  verse 
commends  a  '  carpe  diem '  existence  before  we  pass  into 
'  eternal  exile,'  where  pulvis  et  umbra  sumus.  Pliny 
{H.  N.,  vii.  55,  188)  maintains  that  death  is  an  unbroken 
sleep  from  which  there  is  no  awakening,  the  desire  for 
immortahty  arising  from  human  vanity.  The  funeral 
inscriptions  are  for  the  most  part  hopeless.  They  repre- 
sent largely  the  scenes  of  this  life  and  of  past  happiness ; 
they  are  not  concerned  with  the  future.  Some  are  frivolous 
and  even  immoral :  '  I  was  not,  I  became  ;  I  am  not  and 
I  care  not.'  '  While  I  lived  I  drank  as  I  pleased,  you 
who  live  drink.'  '  Baths,  wine,  indulgence,  corrupt  our 
bodies,  but  they  constitute  hfe.'  '  Eat,  drink,  enjoy 
yourself,  then  join  us.'  '  What  I  have  eaten  and  drunk, 
that  I  take  with  me  ;  what  I  have  left  behind  I  have 
forfeited.'  '  While  I  lived  I  Lived  well ;  now  my  little 
play  is  ended,  soon  shall  yours  be  ;  good-bye  and  applaud.' 
'  Hold  all  a  mockery,  reader  ;  nothing  is  our  own.'  The 
poems  of  the  Greek  Anthology — especially  the  later  ones 
— are  without  a  ray  of  hope.  Death  brings  the  peace  of 
nothingness,  and  takes  us  away  from  the  ills  of  Hfe.  The 
burden  of  these  pieces  is  '  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity.' 
As  death  may  snatch  us  away  at  any  moment  let  us  quafif 
the  cup  of  pleasure  now ;    the  only  regret  at  the  end  is 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  105 

that  of  having  lost  any  opportunity  of  enjoyment ;  for  the 
rest  '  all  is  laughter,  all  is  dust,  all  is  nothing.'  '  All  life 
is  a  stage  and  a  game  ;  learn  to  play  it  without  seriousness 
or  bear  the  consequence.' 

There  is  another  side.  The  question  of  immortaHty 
was  being  approached  with  increasing  earnestness.  Men 
were  asking,  '  If  a  man  die  shall  he  Uve  again  ?  '  Amid  the 
uncertainty  and  misery  of  the  present,  many  were  crying 
with  the  author  of  Obermann,  '  Etemite,  deviens  mon  asile.' 
The  demand  for  continued  existence  and  for  remembrance 
asserted  itself  strongly.  Even  Lucretius  realised  the  sad- 
ness for  the  human  heart  of  parting  with  loved  ones  without 
hope  of  a  reunion.  Roman  tombs  were  erected  near  the 
roadside  so  that  the  Hving  might  not  grudge  the  time  to 
read  the  epitaph.  '  The  wish  to  maintain  ...  a  bond 
of  communion  between  the  Uving  and  the  departed  was 
one  of  the  most  imperious  instincts  of  the  Latin  race.'  ^ 
The  dead  demand  that  loving  hands  scatter  roses  and 
violets  with  a  prayer  over  the  grave  :  they  dreaded  loneh- 
ness.  A  few  learned  sceptics  and  materiahsts  could  not 
stem  the  rising  aspirations  of  the  people.  Some  men  of 
eminence  would  not  deny  this  hope  :  others  fostered  it 
till  it  became  a  faith.  The  work  of  Orphism,  Pytha- 
goreanism,  and  above  all  Platonism,  could  not  be  in  vain  ; 
their  spirituaUty  filtered  down  among  the  masses.  Tacitus 
concludes  his  hfe  of  Agricola  with  the  faint  hope  that  such 
noble  souls  may  be  granted  a  Ufe  beyond.  Sulpicius 
Severus  consoles  Cicero  on  the  death  of  TulHa  with  a 
hesitating  '  if  the  dead  retain  consciousness.'  The  demand 
for  Consolations,  characteristic  of  this  period,  promoted 
the  eternal  hope.  It  is  strange  that  while  behef  in  the  old 
fables  of  punishment  in  Tartarus  waned,  the  hope  of  im- 
mortaHty increased.  The  future  was  increasingly  ethicised 
from  the  days  of  Orphism  and  especially  of  Plato.  Plu- 
tarch is  an  advocate  of  immortaHty,  to  which  he  thinks 
1  Dill,  p.  487. 


106    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

the  innate  desire  for  a  perpetuity  of  life  points.'  At  the 
end  of  his  Consolation  to  his  wife  he  considers  it  harder  to 
doubt  than  to  believe.  He  also  consoles  her  with  this  faith 
which  they  learned  in  their  initiation  into  the  mysteries. 
In  his  (?)  Consolation  to  Apollonius  the  same  hope  is 
present,  but  sometimes  faint.  The  cases  of  Cicero  and 
Seneca  are  interesting  as  giving  some  insight  into  ancient 
rehgious  experience.  In  the  day  of  prosperity  both  paid 
little  attention  to  the  subject,  but  in  the  face  of  bereave- 
ment and  misfortune  they  fell  back  on  the  eternal  hope. 
Cicero,  acknowledging  Sulpicius'  consolatory  letter  {Fam., 
iv.  5),  admits  that  his  friend  had  offered  all  possible 
consolation,  though  the  highest  he  could  offer  was  a 
continuation  of  consciousness  in  TuUia  {si  qui  etiam  inferis 
sensus  est).  Writing  to  Torquatus  {lb.,  vi.  4,  4),  a  few 
months  later,  he  views  death  as  bringing  insensibihty  {sine 
utlo  sensu).  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  beautiful  Dream  of 
Scipio,  published  51  B.C.,  a  blessed  immortahty  is  promised 
to  those  who  have  served  their  country  and  lived  virtuously, 
in  contrast  with  which  '  what  you  call  life  is  death.'  In 
the  year  of  Tullia's  death  he  addressed  a  Consolatio  to 
himself,  in  the  extant  fragment  of  which  he  dweUs  upon  the 
divine  and  spiritual  nature  of  the  soul.  In  the  same  or 
the  following  year  he  began  the  Tusculan  Disputations 
('  a  work  of  despair '),  in  the  first  of  which  he  reviews  the 
Platonic  arguments  for  the  immortahty  of  the  soul,  but 
arrives  at  no  certainty.  Death  is  no  evil,  but  it  is  not  a 
blessing :  we  shall  either  '  return  to  our  eternal  home  or 
become  unconscious  and  free  from  anxiety.'  Again  he 
boasts  that  if  the  hope  of  immortahty  is  a  delusion  it  is 
one  in  which  he  wishes  to  persist.  Seneca  wavered.  At 
one  time  he  viewed  immortahty  as  a  '  beautiful  dream ' 
{helium  somnium),  but  after  the  bitter  experiences  of  his 
life  he  came  to  depict  the  blessedness  of  heaven  in  terms 

1  In  De  sera  Num.  Vind.,  18,  he  says  a  belief  in  continued  existence  must 
follow  from  that  in  God's  providence.     Cf.  also  Ncm  posse  tuaviter  vivi,  26  f. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  107 

akin  to  the  Christian.  Death  is  not  penal  but  a  boon  to 
tired  mortality  ;  this  mortal  hfe  is  a  '  prelude  to  a  better 
and  longer  life.'  Stoic  as  he  was  he  preferred  the  Platonic 
spiritual  view  of  the  soul.  The  day  of  death  is  the  '  birth- 
day of  eternity '  {aeterni  natalis)  :  '  our  soul  will  then 
have  cause  to  rejoice  when,  sent  forth  from  these  shades 
in  which  it  is  immersed,  it  shall  see  things  no  longer  dimly, 
but  with  the  hght  of  perfect  day,  and  shall  have  been 
restored  to  its  heaven  and  shall  have  reached  the  place 
which  is  its  birthplace.'  Maximus  of  Tyre  regards  death 
as  the  entrance  upon  a  new  immortal  Uf  e. 

Some  of  the  most  earnest  souls  were  in  doubt.  This 
is  the  attitude  of  QuintiUan.  Epictetus  is  very  faltering 
in  his  utterances  about  things  beyond  :  though  he  asserted 
the  divine  kinship  of  the  soul  and  the  joy  of  communion 
with  God  here,  he  never  felt  the  need  of  a  personal  existence 
beyond.  Marcus  AureUus,  conscious  of  the  inveterate 
longing  of  man  for  continued  existence,  crushed  it  out 
in  his  absolute  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  whatever 
that  might  be :  he  felt  no  need  of  another  life  to  com- 
plement this. 

Thus  some  of  the  best  men  were  indifferent  to  the  hope 
of  man ;  others  clung  to  it  as  a  frail  raft.  So  far  as  we 
can  gather,  the  masses  had  more  faith  in  immortaUty  than 
their  leaders,  and  that  because  of  the  spread  of  the  Oriental 
reUgions.  The  chief  sources  of  faith  in  a  continued  moral' 
life  in  the  Graeco-Roman  age  were  three  :  Platonism,  which 
took  up  and  spiritualised  Orphism  and  Pythagoreanism ; 
the  Greek  mysteries,  and,  above  all,  the  mysteries  of  the 
Oriental  cults.  Speaking  of  Athens,  Cicero  says  she  pro- 
duced '  nothing  more  excellent  and  nothing  better  than 
those  mysteries,  by  which  from  a  wild  and  savage  hfe  we 
have  been  trained  and  raised  to  a  higher  humanity.  They 
are  truly  called  initia,  for  it  is  through  them  we  have 
learned  to  know  the  beginnings  of  Hfe.  And  we  have 
received  from  them  not  only  good  reason  why  we  should 


108    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OP  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

live  with  joy,  but  also  why  we  should  die  with  a  better  hope.' 
A  continued  existence  of  some  kind  was  almost  universally 
admitted :  it  was  the  mj^  steries  that  cast  light  upon  the 
gloom  and  promised  a  different  position  to  the  initiated. 

The  Mysteries 

Although  we  distinguish  Greek  and  Oriental  mysteries, 
the  Greek  mysteries  were  probably  introduced  from  the  East 
by  the  cult  brotherhoods  after  the  spiritual  upheavals 
and  religious  revivals  that  swept  over  the  North  Semitic 
world  in  the  seventh  century  B.C.  The  mysteries  were 
at  first  private  and  conducted  by  reUgious  guilds.  They 
introduced  into  Greece  the  revolutionary  idea  of  a 
religion  detached  from  the  tribe  or  polis  and  open  to  all 
men :  membership  was  free  and  spontaneous.  In  the  sixth 
century^  one  Greek  state,  Athens,  took  over  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries  as  part  of  the  state  religion,  thus  partly  adopting 
the  new  principle  of  membership  in  a  divine  community 
by  initiation  instead  of  by  birthright.  Side  by  side  still 
persisted  many  private  mysteries.  The  introduction  of 
these  foreign  mysteries  into  the  Greek  world  was  epoch- 
making  :  they  lent  to  men  a  moral  inspiration  by  making 
the  future  life  worthy  of  high  endeavour,  and  by  introducing 
into  it  moral  distinctions  quaHfied  by  man's  conduct 
here.  The  gloomy  non-moral  after-existence  of  Homer 
gave  way  to  a  hereafter  of  bliss  for  the  initiated.  Both 
the  state-acknowledged  and  the  private  mysteries  offered 
to  men  a  hope  through  the  symboUsm  of  nature.  The 
Hymn  to  Demeier  says,  '  Happy  is  he  among  deathly  men 
who  hath  beheld  these  things.  And  he  that  is  uninitiate 
and  hath  no  lot  in  them,  hath  never  equal  lot  in  death 
beneath  the  murky  gloom.'  Pindar  speaks  to  the  same 
purpose.  Better  known  are  the  words  of  Sophocles, 
'thrice  blessed  they  of  mortals  who  descend  into  Hades 

»  Cf.  Jevons,  Introd.  to  the  History  of  Religion  (1896),  pp.  358-9. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  109 

having  seen  these  mysteries.'  Mj^steries,  like  everything 
else,  were  abused.  Plato  speaks  of  them  with  disapproba- 
tion, first,  because  they  tended  to  give  the  idea  that 
ceremonial  expiation  for  sin  in  this  Hfe  was  enough — an 
idea  subversive  of  righteousness ;  and  secondly,  because 
they  offered  rewards,  including  an  '  eternity  of  drunken- 
ness,' for  virtue,  which  to  Plato  was  its  own  reward. 

The  new  Oriental  cults  that  began  in  the  second  century 
B.C.  to  invade  the  Empire  supplied  the  masses  with  the 
most  fascinating  ritual  and  mysteries.  The  cults  of  the 
Great  Mother,  Isis,  and  Mithra,  taught  immortaHty  and 
attached  to  it  grave  moral  responsibilit3^  Men  were  pre- 
pared for  the  Hfe  beyond  by  penances,  faating,  abstinence, 
baptism  and  purification.  In  the  yearly  return  of  life 
in  nature  they  recognised  a  symbol  of  the  hope  of  man. 
The  emotional  rites  of  a  naturalistic  reUgion  were  not  in 
the  first  case  elevating,  but  with  the  developing  moral 
experience  of  man  were  translated  into  symbols  of  higher 
truth.  They  saw  in  the  alternate  grief  and  joy  of  a  mother 
of  sorrows  joy  bom  of  grief  and  Ufe  issuing  from  death. 
Life  was  a  probation  for  eternity,  and  after  death  there 
followed  another  life  and  a  great  judgment. 

The  TauroboHum  (not  found  in  the  West  till  the  second 
century  a.d.,  attaching  to  the  Great  Mother  cult,  and  pro- 
bably also  to  Mithraism)  was  the  most  impressive  of  sacra- 
ments. The  worshipper  knelt  in  a  trench  over  which  was  a 
platform  on  which  was  slain  a  bull ;  the  blood  ran  down 
upon  the  devotee,  thus  cleansing  him  of  sin  and  causing  him 
to  be  'bom  again  for  eternity'  {in  aeternum  renatus).  The 
votaries  of  Isis  had  inscribed  on  their  tombs  '  be  of  good 
cheer,'  or  '  may  Osiris  give  thee  the  refreshing  water.' 

V.  Change  in  the  Religious  Spirit 

The  more  one  studies  this  era  the  more  will  he  be  per- 
suaded that  the  Christ  came  in  the  fulness  of  time ;  that 


110    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

all  its  activities,  political,  social,  moral  and  religious, 
were  converging  toward  His  appearing.  The  natural  joy  of 
life  {Weltfreudigkeit)  was  gone :  men  had  become  serious. 
The  problems  that  agitated  them  most  were  those  of 
ethics  and  rehgion,  above  all,  the  problems  of  the  individual 
soul,  or  those  universal  enigmas  that  concern  man  as 
man  everywhere  and  always — the  issues  of  Hfe  and  death. 
We  have  noticed  a  demand  on  all  hands  for  a  universal 
rehgion.  Toward  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  the 
rehgious  instinct  asserted  itself  in  a  surprising  degree  : 
'  men  were  thirsty  to  beUeve  and  worship,'  says  Denis. 
The  God  of  the  city-state  passed  away  with  the  city-state 
which  finally  expired  under  Caesar  and  Augustus ;  state 
rehgions  were  maintained  by  custom  not  by  faith.  The 
world  had  come  to  beheve  in  the  unity  of  God  which 
suggested  one  rehgion.  If  one  man  could  rule  the  world, 
surely  one  God  could  rule  the  imiverse.  Social,  poUtical, 
and  legislative  unity  had  been  impressed  upon  the  Empire, 
by  Rome ;  philosophical  and,  to  some  extent,  ethical  unity 
had  been  emphasised  by  Greek  thought;  only  rehgious 
unity  was  needed.  As  men  were  persuaded  of  the  unity 
of  God,  the  unity  of  man  and  the  divine  kinship,  no  parti- 
cularistic rehgion  could  satisfy.  If  sin  abounded,  it  was 
also  an  age  of  intense  rehgious  activity.  Greek  thought 
made  as  noble  an  effort  to  supply  a  rehgion  of  humanity  as 
was  possible  for  philosophy.  The  era  of  the  subjective  had 
arrived  which  is  specially  favourable  to  devotion.  Rome 
offered  her  subjects  a  universal  rehgion  in  the  imperial 
cult  to  impress  the  world  with  her  own  majesty  rather 
than  that  of  God.  Her  subjects  accepted  it  with  good  will 
as  a  form  of  civil  homage,  while  they  went  their  own  way 
to  find  satisfaction  for  the  hfe  of  the  soul :  the  praesens 
deus  of  the  emperor  might  appeal  to  the  imagination  but 
not  to  the  emotions.  The  throne  of  the  human  heart  was 
declared  vacant  and  there  were  abundant  candidates ; 
in  this  department  Greece  and  Rome  retired  before  the 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  111 

religions  of  the  East.  Individualism  is  in  no  department 
so  pronounced  as  in  the  reHgious.  Personal  access  to  the 
Deity  was  offered  through  the  Oriental  priesthoods.  The 
world  was  convinced  that  the  two  great  reaUties  in  the 
universe  were  God  and  the  soul.  The  worshipper  was  no 
longer  content  to  remain  a  silent  and  passive  observer  :  he 
wished  to  take  part  himself  in  the  worship.  Rehgion  was 
regarded  as  an  individual  concern,  and  not  as  a  province  of 
pohtics.  The  mysteries  and  the  Eastern  faiths  suppHed  the 
place  with  the  ancients  which  the  Church  occupies  with  us. 
Membership  in  these  and  state  citizenship  were  separate : 
man  selected  his  rehgion,  he  did  not  any  longer  enter  it  by 
birthright. 

Emotionalism 

We  observe  a  rising  tide  of  emotionahsm.     It  is  easy 
to  understand  how  this  was   restrained   in   the   severe 
but  necessary  discipline  of  the  old  regime.^     When  the 
individual  is  detached  from  the  collective  unity  there  is 
more  play  for  the  emotions.     Religion  is  rooted  in  the 
emotional.2    Jerome  says  Plato  placed  the  soul  of  man 
in  the  head,  Christ  placed  it  in  the  heart.     Emotionahsm 
entered  the  Graeco-Roman  world  by  a  twofold  path,  first,': 
in  the  consciousness  of  deep  rehgious  needs  disclosed  by;, 
individuahsm,  which  reacted  upon  men  hke  the  discovery' 
of  a  new  sense;  and  secondly,  in  the  Eastern  religions  which  | 
professed  to  meet  while  fostering  these  wants.    Emotional-  * 
ism  betrayed  itself  negatively  in  the  depreciation  of  the 
state  cults,  and  positively,  in  the  efforts  made  by  the 
Roman  rehgious  authorities  to  make  the  worship  more 
congenial  by  introducing  emotional  and  individual  elements. 
Fowler  ^  speaks  of  '  the  first  lectistemia  in  399  B.C.  as 

1  Contrast  the  statuesque  Borrow  of  Pericles'  Funeral  Oration  with  that  of 
Cicero  over  the  loss  of  Tullia. 

2  M.   Arnold's  definition  of  religion  as  morality  touched  with  emotion 
contains  a  half  truth, 

'  Rdig.  Exper.,  p.  261. 


112    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY    [ch. 

the  earliest  authentic  example  of  the  emotional  tendency 
of  the  Roman  plebs.'  While  this  emotional  element  is 
necessary  for  religion,  it  does  not  constitute  reUgion,  nor 
does  it  necessarily  conduce  to  it.  It  may  issue  in  true 
religious  enthusiasm  and  mysticism,  or  sink  to  moral 
anarchy.*  Hence  too  the  Oriental  rehgions  have  been  so 
differently  estimated  in  antiquity  and  now.  In  one  sense 
men  find  in  a  religion  what  they  bring  to  it,  and  derive  from 
it  what  they  most  desire.  Those  who  approached  these 
rehgions  in  earnest  to  find  spiritual  support  discovered 
in  them  means  of  grace  ;  others  sought  in  them  palliatives 
of  and  even  incentives  to  immoraUty.  Ceremonial  purity 
was  required  rather  than  spiritual :  the  emotional  mis- 
tresses of  men  hke  Catullus,  Propertius,  and  TibuUus  were 
eager  devotees  of  these  cults.  The  sensual  romance  of 
Apuleius  is  another  instance.  A  further  evidence  of 
emotionalism  is  the  prominence  of  women  in  the  Oriental 
cults,  including  Judaism  and  Christianity.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  prominence  of  the  passion  of 
love  in  the  later,  and  especially  in  Roman,  Hterature. 
The  very  reahsm,  characteristic  of  the  age,  is  evidence 
of  the  emotional. 

Personal  Religion 

There  was  a  considerable  advance  in  the  recognition 
of  the  inwardness  and  personal  nature  of  man's  higher 
life.*  This  was  in  fine  with  the  general  drift  toward 
individuaUsm.  Man  had  turned  from  the  investigation 
of  the  problems  of  the  external  world  to  probe  the  secret  of 
his  own  nature.  Although  the  ancient  world  did  not  arrive 
at  any  adequate  conception  of  personahty  (the  depths 
of  which  have  not  even  yet  been  plumbed),  there  was 
a  developing  sense  of  personality  with  its  pain  and  responsi* 

1  Many  of  the  greatest  musicians  led  immoral  lives. 
•  Cf.  Seneca,  Ep.  28. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  113 

bility.  The  city-state  had  presented  only  the  external 
and  collective  side  of  religion ;  the  personal  and  inward 
aspect  now  overshadowed  the  other.  Man  turned  aside 
from  political  hfe  to  regulate  his  own,  and  find  satisfaction 
for  Self  in  religion.  Amid  the  terrible  social  strife  and 
devastation  in  which  the  Empire  was  founded,  men  were 
compelled  to  think  about  themselves  in  a  new  way.  It 
seemed  as  if  God  had  set  the  emperors  to  keep  guard 
in  order  to  give  men  time  to  reflect  about  themselves. 
In  the  stillness  of  the  pax  Romana,  the  need  for  inward 
peace  grew  all  the  more  clamant.  The  collective  covenant 
with  God  had  been  broken,  and  as  men  cannot  live  without 
the  supernatural,  the  personal  bond  was  sought.  The 
external  sanctions  and  authority  of  moraUty  being 
threatened,  another  sanction  was  discovered  in  the  innate 
moral  nature  of  man  and  in  a  God-implanted  conscience 
which  demanded  obedience  while  states  rise  and  fall. 
There  was  acknowledged  an  objective  and  eternal  law  of 
righteousness  to  which  the  God  within  bears  testimony. 
The  worthiest  rewards  of  righteousness  and  the  acutest 
penalties  of  sin  are  enacted  in  the  theatre  of  the  inner  hfe. 
Socrates  maintains  that  the  worst  consequences  of  our 
conduct  are  the  disastrous  effects  upon  our  own  spiritual 
nature.  The  famous  hne  of  Virgil  represents  the  same 
truth  :  quisque  suos  patimur  Manes,  '  each  of  us  suffers 
in  his  own  spiritual  being.'  The  call  of  the  heathen 
preacher  was  for  introspection  and  self-examination  :  this 
era  dated  from  the  '  Know  thyself,'  by  which  Socrates 
produced  one  of  the  most  momentous  epochs  in  the  higher, 
hfe.  The  later  schools  without  exception  aimed  at 
bestowing  upon  man  independence  in  his  inward  hfe.  f 
Stoicism  took  the  lead  in  asking  men  to  retire  to  the:^ 
citadel  of  their  own  being  where  external  things  could^' 
not  ruffle  :  the  only  worthy  hfe  was  amid  the  secret ; 
triumphs  and  agonies  of  one's  soul.  '  Retire  within ' 
yourself '   was   the   motto   of   Aurehus.     Peace   may   be 

H 


114    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

found  within  when  it  is  denied  without.  There  are  many 
pagan  texts,  especially  in  Seneca,  Epictetus,  and  Aurehus, 
parallel  to  '  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.* 


Ghiracter 

Closely  connected  with  this  inwardness  is  the  importance 
attached  to  character,  though  the  old  world  was  even 
fuller  of  inconsistencies  between  a  man's  ideals  and  his 
conduct  than  the  modern.     Ovid  could  say  *  I  see  the 
better  and  approve  it,  but  I  pursue  the  worse.'     Men  had 
begun,  in  the  words  of  Emerson,  to  test  the  passion  of 
the  moment  by  the  verdict  of  the  centuries.    The  Apology 
of  Xenophon,  prosaic  compared  with  that  of  Plato,  con- 
tains one  memorable  passage.     Socrates,  seeing  Anytus 
leaving  the  court  in  triumph,  exclaimed,  '  How  wretched 
is  this  fellow  not  to  reflect  that  whichever  of  us  has  done 
that  which  is  the  best  and  noblest  for  all  time,  he  is  the 
victor.'     A  Stoic,  asked  if  he  had  lost  anything  in  the  sack 
of  his  native  city,  repHed,  '  I  carry  all  my  goods  with  me.' 
More  attention  was  paid  to  moral  education  and  the  forma- 
tion of  character  ;  precepts  and  examples  were  in  demand. 
The  whole  mission  of  Stoicism  was  to  form  strong  and 
fearless  characters  that  could  bid  defiance  to  any  calamity, 
and  it  admittedly  achieved  great  success.    All  the  attention 
that  used  to  be  paid  to  pohtics  was  now  centred  upon 
\  morality.    That  what  a  man  is,  is  of  more  importance 
I  than  what  a  man  has,  is  a  doctrine  quite  famiUar  to  Seneca, 
,  Epictetus,  and  Aurelius.    Probably  the  most  impressive 
I   testimony  of  early  Christianity  was  the  upright  lives  of 
I    its  adherents. 


Demand  for  Authority 

The   ancient   world   was   anxiously   searching   for   an 
authority,  especially  about  the  time  of  the  appearance  of 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  115 

Christianity.  The  Orient,  relying  less  on  the  capacities 
of  man,  looked  to  God  for  knowledge  given  by  revelation 
and  embodied  in  the  lore  of  priesthoods.  The  Greeks 
looked  to  man  himself  for  knowledge ;  they  considered 
it  no  irreverence  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of  the  Almighty. 
As  the  Greeks  sought  salvation  by  wisdom,  the  question 
of  a  criterion  to  distinguish  truth  from  falsehood  was  a 
matter  of  supreme  importance.  The  question  arose, 
What  and  wherein  is  the  authority  of  Thought  ?  Socrates 
vindicated  the  vahdity  of  thought  and  the  existence  of 
objective  and  universal  truth  :  he  beheved  in  the  possibihty 
of  knowledge  through  concepts  arrived  at  by  dialectic. 
He  was  the  first  Greek  to  enthrone  conscience  as  an  authority 
above  law  and  the  state.  He  asserted  that  man's  moral 
nature  is  not  a  lie,  and  that  we  have  a  conscience  which 
must  be  obeyed  at  all  costs,  even  at  that  of  life  itself. 
He  beheved  he  had  an  inner  guide — his  daemon.  He  also 
gave  the  first  utterance  in  the  Western  world  to  the  need 
of  a  revelation — a  heaven-sent  guide  to  teach  us  our 
religious  duties.  Plato  found  the  authority  for  the  moral 
hfe  of  man  in  innate  ideas,  in  the  recollection  of  the 
Good  and  the  Lovely  which  our  souls  contemplated  with 
God  in  their  pre-natal  condition.  The  Cyrenaics  despaired 
of  knowledge.  Aristotle  gave  prominence  to  empiric 
knowledge,  defending  sensuous  perception  on  the  ground 
that  the  senses  never  deceive  us.  The  Stoics  were  sheer 
empirics.  The  Epicureans  theoretically  accepted  sensu- 
ous perception  and  the  resulting  concepts  as  criteria  of 
truth,  but  in  practice  they  held  to  the  personal  feehng  of 
pleasure  and  pain  as  the  basis  of  moral  conduct.  The 
Academics  rejected  both  the  evidence  of  the  senses  and 
the  intellect  as  guides ;  they  also  repudiated  knowledge 
by  concepts  because  these  bore  no  hall-mark  of  veracity, 
and  the  same  object  generated  different  concepts  in  different 
minds.  Man  must  rest  in  suspension  of  judgment,  and  the 
highest  criterion  for  moral  conduct  is  probability.    Man 


116    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch, 

grew  weary  of  uncertainty,  and  as  attention  centred  more 
upon  the  ethics  of  the  individual,  he  demanded  a  working 
criterion.  The  Eclectics  were  the  most  practical  thinkers ' 
of  a  practical  age.  They  placed  the  standard  for  decision 
between  true  and  false,  right  and  wrong,  in  each  man's 
self-consciousness  where  truth  is  given  immediately ;  the 
ordinary  self-consciousness  gives  the  final  decision  in 
philosophic  questions.  '  Thus  innate  knowledge  forms 
the  transition  to  that  form  of  philosophy  which  only  goes 
back  to  self-consciousness,  in  order  to  receive  in  it  the 
revelation  of  God.'  ^  Eclecticism  opened  the  way  for, 
and  went  hand  in  hand  with,  the  philosophy  of  Revelation. 
External  Revelation  is  complementary  to  internal.*  This 
is  the  position  taken  so  strongly  by  Cicero  and  Seneca. 
The  Greeks,  the  first  to  doubt,  were  not  yet  satisfied.  A 
higher  authority  was  needed  to  regulate  the  liberty  of 
independence  secured  by  individualism.  The  Greeks 
had  trusted  themselves  to  Reason,  which  had  carried  them 
as  far  as  Reason  can  ;  they  were  now  conscious  that  there, 
is  a  domain  into  which  the  intellect  by  itself  cannot  enter, 
that  there  is  in  Hfe  a  mysterious  region  where  only  faith 
can  say  the  last  word.  Denis ^  observes  that,  'grown  old' 
in  logic,  wearied  of  uncertainty  and  scepticism,  they  were 
less  conscious  of  the  need  of  arriving  by  any  path  at  the 
emancipation  of  the  spirit,  than  of  discovering  a  rule  to 
terminate  their  discussions  and  their  doubts.  They  would 
view  the  letter  of  a  formal  and  holy  text  rather  as  an 
alleviation  than  as  a  subjection  and  a  restraint.'  Justin 
Martyr  says,  '  It  is  impossible  to  know  either  by  nature, 

1  Zeller,  Eclectics,  p.  20. 

2  '  These  two  currents  [an  urgent  demand  for  knowledge  in  the  practical 
interests  of  religion,  and  a  disbelief  in  the  truths  of  existing  knowledge  and 
knowledge  generally]  coalescing,  we  arriye  at  the  thought  that  truth,  which 
could  not  be  attained  in  the  form  of  intellectual  knowledge,  exists  outside  of 
it,  and  is  partly  to  be  sought  in  the  religious  traditions  of  the  early  days  of 
Greece  and  the  East,  partly  by  immediate  divine  revelation.'— Zeller,  Stoict, 
Epic,  and  Seep.,  p.  30. 

3  ii.  321. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  117 

or  the  sheer  power  of  thought,  things  so  sublime  as  the 
divine  :  that  can  only  come  by  the  gracious  gift  of  Him 
who  knows  all.'  Pilate  was  unconsciously  voicing  the 
demand  of  his  age  when  he  asked  in  the  presence  of  '  the 
Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,'  '  What  is  Truth  ?  '  without 
recognising  the  Revelation  of  Truth.  From  whatever 
causes — the  discordant  voices  of  spiritual  directors,  the 
mistrust  in  man's  capacity  for  knowledge,  the  shattering 
of  external  restraints,  the  isolation  of  the  individual  soul, 
the  weariness  that  overtook  Greek  thinking,  the  contact 
with  the  Revelation  philosophy  of  the  East — there  spread 
a  deep  sense  of  the  need  of  a  Revelation,^  which  was 
intensified  by  the  contact  of  East  and  West  in  Alexandria ; 
in  the  Hermetic  Uterature  Revelation  has  become  the 
source  of  knowledge.^  '  The  last  motive  in  this  specula- 
tion (which  ended  in  Neo-Platonism),  was  the  yearning 
after  a  higher  revelation  of  truth ;  its  metaphysical  pre- 
supposition was  an  opposition  of  God  and  the  world  .  .  . 
its  practical  consequence  was  a  combination  of  ethics  with 
rehgion.'  ^  Neo-Pythagoreanism,  later  Platonism,  and 
finally  Neo-Platonism  trusted  rather  to  a  revelation  than 
to  logic.  They  sought  the  knowledge  of  God  in  communion 
with  Him,  in  rising  in  ecstasy  from  the  sensuous  to  the 
supersensuous.  The  idea  of  Revelation  was  encouraged 
by  the  Oriental  religions  to  which  people  thronged.  The 
contact  of  Judaism  with  the  West,  and  the  tremendous 
influence  of  the  world-historic  Septuagint  version,  pro- 
mulgated this  faith.  In  addition.  Messianic  ideas  were 
widely  diffused  (p.  136).  The  ecclesiastical  councils  were 
not  isolated  phenomena ;  they  were  the  result  of  an  age- 
long search  for  an  authority  for  the  spirit. 

»  Cf.  Neander,  Oh.  Hist.,  Eng.  Tr.,  i.  43. 

«  This  Revelation  is  granted  either  immediately  by  a  God  (Hermes,  That, 
Asclepius)  or  mediately  by  an  inspired  prophet. 
3  Zeller,  Outlinea,  p.  305. 


118    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [oh. 

Nearness  of  the  Supernatural 

P  A  consciousness  of  the  supernatural  was  keener  with 
I  the  ancients  than  with  some  modem  Christians.  They 
/  knew  no  rehgion  without  miracles.  The  supernatural 
was  in  close  propinquity  to  them,  and  their  whole  life  was 
filled  with  its  influence.  What  to  us  would  seem  miraculous 
and  incredible  was  to  them  of  ordinary  occurrence — 
miracles  of  healing,  visions,  apocalypses,  resuscitation  of 
the  dead.  There  was  an  evil  side  to  this  beUef  in  the 
supernatural :  religion  was  debased  to  superstition.^  The 
divine  was  feared  lest  it  should  hurt,  not  loved  for  its 
beneficence.  The  gods  could  be  threatened,  cajoled, 
bribed.  All  means  were  used  to  deflect  their  wills  from 
evil  designs.  Astrology,  witchcraft,  necromancy,  thau- 
maturgy  were  rife.  Some  of  the  most  degrading  practices 
were  performed  under  the  name  of  religion.  We  realise 
the  force  of  ignorant  superstition  in  reading  the  great 
poem  of  Lucretius  ;  his  whole  effort  is  to  weed  the  fear 
of  the  gods  out  of  human  life,  for  'to  so  many  evils 
could  religio  prompt  men.'  The  ancients  believed  that  the 
Deity  revealed  himself  in  trifling  accidents  and  in  preter- 
natural fashion.  Sober  historians  like  Livy  and  Tacitus 
pause  to  relate  miraculous  events,  and  Suetonius  revels  in 
the  miraculous.  With  the  spread  of  dualism  the  whole 
world  was  portioned  out  to  a  hierarchy  of  beneficent  and 
malefic  spirits  ;  the  life  of  man  was  the  theatre  of  a  truce- 
less  conflict  for  his  soul  between  the  opposing  spiritual 
forces.  Paul  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  earnestness  of  this 
perpetual  struggle. 

Mysticism 

A  strong  flood  of  mysticism  was  sweeping  over  the  world. 
Mysticism  has  been  often  asserted  to  be  alien  to  the  leading 

1  De  Jong  [Das  antike  Afysterienwesen,  p.  198)  speaks  of  the  mysteries  as 
official  magic. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  119 

peoples  of  the  Empire.  It  was  undoubtedly  uncongenial 
to  the  Romans,  to  whom  the  material  was  so  real.  Inge  ^ 
maintains  that  the  '  Jewish  mind  and  character  in  spite 
of  its  deeply  religious  bent  was  ahen  to  mysticism,'  but  in 
the  Psahns  and  the  Prophets  we  often  find  a  genuine 
rehgious  mysticism,  and  another  type  in  the  Apocalyptic 
visions  and  the  Cabbala.  To  the  Greek  mind  in  its  heyday 
the  mystic  temperament  was  foreign.^  Mysticism  entered  the 
Greek  world  in  the  religious  revival  of  the  sixth  century  B.C., 
in  Orphism  and  Pythagoreanism ;  it  was  too  individuaUstic 
to  lay  hold  on  a  civilisation  entrenched  in  the  polis.  It 
laid  hold  on  Plato  and  became  prominent  in  the  subjective- 
ness  which  prevailed  from  the  third,  but  particularly  from 
the  j&rst  century  B.C.  onwards  ^ — in  Neo-Pythagoreanism, 
Neo-Platonism,  in  Philo,  and  in  Paul  and  John.  Wherever 
we  find  religion,  we  find  mysticism  as  one  of  the  channels 
connecting  with  the  Invisible.  There  was  a  demand  for 
the  experimental  knowledge  of  God  *  and  a  unio  mystica. 
In  one  respect,  mysticism  is  the  cultivation  of  the  last 
element  discovered  in  probing  personality — the  emotional. 
Socrates  was  as  much  a  mystic  as  a  true  sceptic.  Plato 
is  the  father  of  Greek  and  Christian  mysticism.  He 
silences  his  doubts  by  faith ;  he  beheves  that  in  the  body 
we  are  exiled  from  home ;  his  whole  effort  is  to  rise  from 
the  finite  to  union  with  the  Infinite.  No  one  was  ever 
more  oppressed  with  the  sense  of  the  duahsm  of  man's 
nature.  The  '  truly  mystical  sense  of  salvation — the 
return  of  the  prodigal  to  his  father's  home  from  the  far 
country,  where  this  high  affinity  had  been  almost  forfeited 
in  "vagrancy  among  the  manifold" — will  appear  again 

1  Christian  Mysticism,  p.  39. 

2  Rohde,  Rdig.  d.  Gr.,  p.  338.  *  Mystik  war  ein  fremder  Blutstropfen  im 
griechischen  Blute." 

3  Of.  Kennedy,  St.  Paid  and  the  Mystery-Religions,  index,  Mysticism ; 
Lehmann,  Mystik  im  Heid.  u.  Christentum,  chaps.  5-8 :  Norden,  Agnostos 
Theos,  97  f.,  109,  222. 

4  '  Tvwo-is  deov  wird  tltas  Ldsungswort  im  Konkurrenzkampfe  der  Religionen,' 
Norden,  ih.  109. 


120    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

as  a  special  type  of  Platonic  thought  ...  an  overpower- 
ing conception  of  Unity ;  and  of  some  scarce  compre- 
hensible form  of  Being,  to  which  the  longing  aspiration 
of  the  awakened  soul  ever  tends,  rising  through  images 
and  figures  and  types  of  the  sensible  world  to  the  perfect 
vision  of  Beauty  beyond.'  ^  When  reHgion  turned  inward, 
and  philosophy  was  converted  into  reHgion,  the  mystical 
elements  of  ecstasy  and  passivity  were  emphasised.  When 
the  intellect  grew  weary  of  long- sustained  activity,  when 
knowledge  seemed  exhausted  or  men  were  overtaken  by 
despair  in  man's  capacity  for  knowledge,^  when  they  became 
more  sensitive  to  the  pain  of  isolation  ^  and  more  con- 
vinced that  our  moral  nature  is  not  a  lie,  when  il  y  avail 
dans  les  dmes  un  vide  immense,  they  cried  out  for  Revela- 
tion ;  '  the  gulf  of  mysticism  invites  the  hardy  speculator 
to  its  profound  repose,  and  constrains  and  fascinates  him, 
until  he  is  overcome  by  dizziness,  and  falls  as  if  drawn 
by  some  irresistible  influence  into  the  abyss.'  The  effort 
was  made,  as  in  Philo  and  Neo-Platonism,  to  rise  above 
conscious  thought  into  immediate  union  with  God. 
Mysticism  also  betrays  itself  in  the  frequent  other- 
worldhness,  in  the  prevalent  world- weariness,  in  the 
asceticism  which  aimed  at  detaching  the  soul  from  the 
attractions  of  earth,  in  the  rebelUon  against  formaUty  in 
reUgion  and  idle  speculation  in  philosophy,  in  the  increas- 
ing power  of  Platonic  ideaUsm,  in  the  demand  for  salvation- 
reUgions,  in  the  fresh  emotional  elements  in  life,  in  the 
quest  after  the  deification  of  man,  in  the  spread  of  indefi- 
nite Messianic  expectations.  These  elements  find  their 
practical  illustration  in  the  spread  of  ascetic  brotherhoods 
Uke  the  Therapeutae  and  Essenes,  and  in  the  purifications 

1  Bussell,  pp.  241-2. 

2  '  So  tritt  Glauben  und  erleuchtetes  Schauen  an  die  Stelle  von  Wissen  und 
Begreifen,  ein  tief  innerliches  Erlebnis  an  die  Stelle  der  Reflexion ;  fromme 
Hingabe  an  das  Unfassbare  ersetzt  den  etolzen  sich  selbst  die  Grenzen 
vorschreibenden  Forschersinn.' — Norden,  p.  127. 

3  '  Mystik  kann,  ihrem  Wesen  nach,  nicht  woW  Religion  einer  Gemeinde 
werden.' — Rohde,  t6.,  p.  336. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  121 

and  the  mortifications  required  by  the  Oriental  cults. 
Such  principles  were  the  tenets  of  Neo-Pythagoreanism, 
the  school  of  Philo,  and  finally  of  Neo-Platonism.  If 
the  spread  of  duaUsm  did  not  foster  mysticism,  it  at  least 
caused  men  to  take  refuge  in  mysticism  as  the  means  of 
escape.  God  and  the  world,  spirit  and  matter,  were  set 
over  against  each  other  in  antagonism.  Greek  thought 
wrestled  for  centuries  to  discover  a  reconciHng  principle, 
a  larger  synthesis  in  which  all  antagonisms  are  harmonised  ; 
but  Greek  thought  never  foimd  the  synthesis.  It  beheved 
from  the  first  in  Unity,  but  could  not  discover  the  terms  or 
principle  or  mode.  At  last  in  despair,  in  Neo-Platonism, 
it  surrendered  logic,  and,  seeking  to  rise  above  conscious 
thought,  made  a  leap  for  unity  in  the  ecstasy  of  the  Vision 
Beatific.  At  length  it  found  that '  nothing  worthy  proving 
can  be  proven  nor  yet  disproven.'  Mysticism  has  been 
defined  as  '  an  attempt  to  solve,  by  love  and  emotion, 
the  duahsm  of  the  world  ;  and  especially  to  reconcile  the 
constant  struggles  and  defiance  of  the  individual  will 
with  universal  law.'  And  mysticism  was  the  last  word  of 
Greek  philosophy.  Theory  was  abandoned  for  immediate 
experience,  just  as  in  Christianity  we  appeal  to  the 
Christian  consciousness. 

Intermediaries 

God  became  more  transcendent,  and  intermediaries 
were  needed  between  man  and  God.  Several  causes 
contributed  to  this — the  greater  hold  which  duaUsm 
gained,  the  rising  sense  of  sin,  the  influence  of  the  Oriental 
idea  of  an  exalted  transcendent  Deity,  monotheism,  the 
consciousness  of  the  limits  of  knowledge.  God  was 
consequently  removed  far  above  the  realm  of  sense  and 
placed  beyond  reach  of  the  world.  An  impassable  gulf 
yawned  between  God  and  Nature :  matter  is  inherently 
evil,  so  that  God  cannot  come  into  contact  with  it.    The 


122    THE  E^TIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

highest  principle  being  spirit  it  became  difficult  to  account 
for  the  Creation  at  all.  That  a  pure  spirit  could  sully 
itself  by  finding  expression  in  the  material,  and  that  a 
good  Creator  could  produce  a  universe  with  so  much  evil, 
was  impossible.  The  activity  of  God  in  the  world  would 
invade  that  serenity  of  the  only  worthy  activity  of  the 
Highest  —  self-contemplation.  Through  intermediaries 
God  created  and  governs  His  creation.  The  whole  universe 
was  peopled  with  demons  or  semi-divine  beings,  of  whom 
some  were  beneficent  and  some  malevolent.  The  idea 
of  a  medium  between  God  and  man  is  very  old.  In  the 
Timaeus  Plato  puts  an  immanent  World-Soul  between  a 
transcendent  God  and  the  world  :  this  World-Soul  is  the 
image  of  God,  His  steward,  or  even  another  God.  '  The 
maker  and  father  of  this  universe  is  difficult  to  discover ; 
when  discovered  he  cannot  be  revealed  to  all  men,'  says 
Plato.  This  World-Soul  is  therefore  one  of  Plato's  most 
important  Unks  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite.  By 
a  singular  coincidence,  both  East  and  West  were  converging 
to  a  beUef  in  a  medium  which  at  first  was  an  abstraction, 
but  was  gradually  personified  and  finally  regarded  as 
personal  or  an  incarnation.  In  the  Old  Testament  we 
find  a  quasi-personification  of  the  Word  of  God,  some- 
times of  His  Name,  and  more  especially  of  Wisdom  ; 
'  Hebrew  thought  tended  to  represent  God's  self-manifesta- 
tion as  mediated  by  an  agent,  more  or  less  conceived  as 
personal  and  yet  blending  with  the  divine  personaHty 
itself.'  ^  In  the  West  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos  or  Word 
goes  back  to  HeracUtus  of  Ephesus.  His  doctrine  has 
occasioned  much  discussion,  but  an  excellent  authority 
sums  it  up  in  three  propositions  :  (1)  '  The  Logos  is  eternal, 
both  pre-existent  and  everlasting.'  (2)  '  All  things 
happen  through  the  Logos.  Its  authority  is  not  confined 
to  the  sphere  of  human  activities  ;  it  is  a  cosmic  principle, 
**  common  "  or  '*  universal."  '     (3)  '  The  duty  of  man  is  to 

1  Purves,  art.  '  Logos '  in  Hastings'  D.  B. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  123 

obey  this  universal  Logos,'  though  most  men  refuse  to 
see  or  hear  it.^  To  the  Stoics  is  due  the  honour  of  popu- 
larising this  doctrine  of  the  Word  as  medium.  Zeno  took 
over  the  Herachtean  Word,  regarded  it  as  the  manifestation 
of  God,  the  all-pervading  principle,  even  identified  it  with 
Fate,  with  Providence,  and  finally  with  God.  It  was  an 
immanent  Logos.  Cleanthes  transformed  the  fire  of 
Herachtus  and  Zeno  into  spirit  and  then  made  the  Logos 
spirit.  The  Logos  became  the  principle  of  all  unity. 
Posidonius  upheld  the  Logos  doctrine,  passing  it  on  to 
Roman  Stoicism  and  perhaps  to  Philo  and  the  Je^^vish 
Christians.  In  Alexandria,  where  East  and  West  first 
blended,  this  important  theological  doctrine  gained  fresh 
impetus,  especially  from  Philo.  The  medium  is  personified 
till  it  becomes  almost  personal.  Philo  became  the  vehicle 
of  expression  for  a  greater  truth  than  he  was  conscious  of. 
His  theism  separated  the  Word  from  the  highest  God. 
He  designates  his  Logos  as  the  '  image  of  God,'  the  '  eldest 
son,'  the  '  first-born,'  the  '  prophet '  or  '  interpreter,' 
the  '  consul '  or  '  vicegerent '  of  God,  the  '  mediator,'  the 
'  intercessor,'  the  '  paraclete,'  the  '  high-priest  of  the 
universe.'  He  is  also  the  '  impress '  of  God,  the  instru- 
ment of  creation,  the  'lower  God,'  the  'second  God,' 
partaking  of  the  nature  of  God  and  man.  Thus  in  the 
Word  as  ever  assuming  a  more  personal  character,  Eastern 
and  Western  anticipations  converged  and  met :  '  Hebrew 
thought  tended  to  conceive  of  the  medium  of  revelation 
as  personal,'  ^  and  one  mark  of  post- Aristotelian  philosophy 
was  '  its  ever-increasing  disposition  to  personify  the  ethical 
ideal.'  *  Finally,  '  the  Word  became  flesh  and  tabernacled 
in  our  midst.' 

Asceticism 

As  an  evidence  of  the  seriousness  of  the  age,  the  growth 
of    asceticism    is    noteworthy.      To    the    Western   spirit 

1  Adam,  Relig.  Teachers  of  Gr.,  p.  219,  and  chap.  iii.  of  his  Vitality  of 
Platonism.  *  Purves,  ibid.  »  Adam,  p.  240. 


124    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

asceticism  was  alien,  as  opposed  to  its  conception  of  self- 
expansion  as  contrasted  with  Eastern  self-repression.  It 
entered  the  West  with  the  religious  revival  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C. ;  it  does  not  seem  to  have  gained  much 
ground  until  the  age  of  the  subjective  schools.  It  was  partly 
a  result  of  ethical  duahsm.  The  Orphics  had  introduced 
the  conception  that  '  the  body  is  a  tomb  '  and  prison 
of  the  soul.  Throughout  his  works  Plato  calls  for  self- 
renunciation,  the  subjugation  and  even  contempt  of  the 
body  in  order  to  preserve  the  soul  unsullied.  The  Stoics 
summoned  men  not  to  regulate  but  to  extirpate  their 
passions.  Ascetic  brotherhoods  like  the  Neo-Pythagoreans, 
Essenes,  and  Therapeutae  were  formed  to  foster  morality. 
As  the  morahsts  raised  their  voices  against  the  vices  of 
their  age,  these  men  advocated  the  renunciation  of  even 
the  lawful  pleasures  of  life.  The  worth  of  the  soul  and  the 
value  of  character  were  regarded  as  justifying  any  sacrifices 
in  the  way  of  abstinence,  penance,  or  self -mortification. 
Juvenal  laughs  at  the  devotees  of  Isis  breaking  the  ice  to 
take  their  ceremonial  bath  and  crawHng  on  their  knees 
on  the  Campus  Martins.  The  unhealthy  growth  of 
asceticism  in  early  Christianity  was  fostered  by  the  spirit 
of  the  preceding  age.  It  was  a  moral  protest  against  the 
self-indulgence  of  the  times.  It  provided  a  refuge  also 
for  numerous  world-weary  spirits :  the  ennui  of  the  age 
swelled  the  numbers  of  the  ascetic  guilds  which  repudi- 
ated marriage  and  were  dependent  on  converts  for  their 
continuance. 

Prayer 

In  the  records  of  this  period  no  subject  was  discussed 
more  frequently  than  that  of  Prayer,  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  an  index  of  its  importance.  Treatises  were 
written  on  prayer,  as  by  Aristotle,  the  author  of  Alci- 
biades  II.,  Persius  {Sat.  2),  Juvenal  {Sat.  x.),  and  Maximus 
of  Tyre  {Dis.  xi.),  and  the  subject  receives  attention  from 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  125 

all  moralists,  as  from  Cicero,  Seneca,  Epictetus,  Lucian, 
etc.  Prayer  was  universal :  it  is  the  efficacy,  the  quaUty 
and  content  of  prayer  on  which  interest  is  focused.  Pagan 
preachers  protested  loudly  against  all  prayers  for  immoral 
objects,  against  asking  the  Deity  for  something  which 
their  own  conduct  renders  impossible.  Prayer  for  self- 
aggrandisement,  for  wealth,  for  ambition,  for  revenge 
is  forbidden.  Men  should  pray  as  if  all  men  could  hear 
them  ;  '  it  is  an  impiety  to  say  to  the  Gods  what  could 
not  be  uttered  without  shame  to  man.'  Seneca  directs 
Lucilius  to  ask  for  health  of  mind  first,  and  then  for  health 
of  body  :  '  so  hve  with  men  as  if  God  saw  you,  so  converse 
with  God  as  if  men  heard  you.'  In  another  epistle,^  he 
directs  LuciHus  not  to  ask  heaven  for  what  is  in  his  own 
power ;  he  need  not  gain  access  to  the  ear  of  the  statue 
because  '  God  is  nigh  thee,  with  thee,  in  thee  :  a  holy 
spirit  dwells  within  us  the  superintendent  and  guardian 
of  all  our  good  and  evil.'  As  now,  men  were  not  unani- 
mous about  prayer.  The  Epicureans  viewed  it  as  futile  to 
address  Gods  that  dare  not  be  disturbed  by  the  troubles 
of  men.  Maximus  of  Tyre  said  that  God  cannot  be 
changed  by  prayer  as  it  is  inconsistent  with  Providence ; 
a  man  is  worthier  by  not  being  importunate ;  the  wise 
man's  prayer  is  not  a  request  for  something  he  has  not, 
but  a  communion  and  conversation  with  God  (Porphyry  and 
Maximus  of  Tyre).  Plato  had  said  that  God  hears  only  the 
good  and  refuses  to  accept  the  gifts  of  the  wicked.  The  Hves 
of  Socrates  and  of  Pythagoras  were  regarded  as  a  continuous 
prayer,  not  for  gifts  but  as  a  means  of  strength ;  they  and 
all  other  wise  men  left  to  God  to  choose  for  them  what 
was  best.  The  wicked  do  not  know  what  to  ask,  and  the 
wise  can  trust  God  to  give  the  best.  There  was  a  general 
conviction  that  God  cares  less  for  cult  and  sacrifices 
than  for  the  worship  of  a  sincere  heart.^    The  quaUty  of 

1  41,  which  the  Bipontine  edition  hails  as  '  0  pulcliram  altamque  epistolam.' 

«  Cf.  Cic,  y.  D.,  ii.  28,  '  ut  eos  semper  pura  integra  incomipta  et  mente  et 

Toce  veneremur ' ;  and  Publilius  Syrus,  '  Puras  Deus  non  plenas  aspicit  manus.' 


126    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca 

prayer  was  elevated  by  the  abundant  protests  against  all 
unworthy  praying.  Prayer  entered  more  the  spiritual  life 
rather  as  a  '  conversation  with  God.'  As  spiritual  wants 
increased  and  men  stood  in  perplexity  in  the  greatest 
moral  crisis  of  history,  their  undefined  cry  was  '  Teach  us 
to  pray.'  The  emotional  tendency  of  the  age,  the  spread 
of  Oriental  worships  with  their  regular  services  of  prayer, 
the  demand  for  spiritual  support,  the  increasing  inward- 
ness of  reUgion,  contributed  to  the  practice  of  prayer. 
The  ubiquitous  Jew,  always  a  man  of  prayer,  with  his 
synagogue  and  its  services  and  its  influential  following  of 
'  God-fearing '  heathen,  was  a  living  example  of  the  power 
of  prayer.  Merivale  ^  suggests  that  the  Jew  taught  the 
pagan  world  to  pray,  but  the  pagans  were  willing  to  learn. 
The  frequent  treatises  on  prayer  by  early  Christian  writers 
are  an  answer  to  the  pagan  interest  in  prayer,  and  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Jewish  practice. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  give  any  idea  of  the — often 
conflicting — opinions^  of  heathen  writers  on  prayer,  or 
specimens  of  extant  prayers.^ 

1  Conversion,  p.  114. 

2  On  which  cf. ,  e.g. ,  H.  Schmidt,  Veteres  philosophi  quomodo  iudicaverint 
deprecibus  (Giessen,  1907). 

3  We  may  perhaps  insert  a  fragment  from  Cleanthes  :— 

*  Lead  me,  0  Zeus,  and  lead  me,  Destiny, 
What  way  soe'er  ye  have  appointed  me. 
I  follow  unafraid  :  yea,  though  the  will 
Turn  recreant,  I  needs  must  follow  still.* 

(G.  H,  Kendall's  tr.). 

And  two  selections  from  his  Hymn  to  Zeus : — 

'  Hail !  for  'tis  meet  that  men  should  call  on  thee 
Whose  seed  we  are  ;  and  ours  the  destiny 

Alone  of  all  that  lives  and  mores  on  earth, 
A  mirror  of  thy  deity  to  be,  .  .  . 
But  skill  to  make  the  crooked  straight  is  thine, 
To  turn  disorder  to  a  fair  design  ; 

Ungracious  things  are  gracious  in  thy  sight, 
For  ill  and  good  thy  power  doth  so  combine 
That  out  of  all  appears  in  unity 
Eternal  reason,  which  the  wicked  flee 

And  disregard,  who  long  lor  happiness, 
Yet  God's  great  law  can  neither  hear  nor  see.' 

(Porter's  tr.). 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CX)NDITIONS  127 

Resignation 

Not  only  in  prayer  did  men  seek  support  and  solace, 
but  in  calm  resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  After  the 
rebeUion  of  the  individual  and  his  self-seeking,  this 
resignation  is  all  the  more  remarkable.  No  age  has 
surpassed  this  period  in  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  experi- 
ences of  Hfe.  Oppressed  by  fatahsm,  ejected  from  a 
system  that  had  given  scope  for  long  to  their  best  activities, 
standing  in  isolation  amid  the  wreck  of  the  old  and  con- 
fronted by  the  confusion  and  suffering  of  the  present,  men 
turned  to  God  and  sought  their  Uberty  in  acquiescence  in 
His  purposes.  Fate  was  identified  with  God  or  put  under 
His  control.  The  Stoics  were  foremost  in  teaching 
resignation  to  what  they  spoke  of  as  Fate,  or  Universal 
Law,  or  Providence,  or  the  will  of  God.  One  of  the  most 
frequently  recurring  notes  in  the  Hterature  of  the  age 
is  that  of  acquiescence.  Seneca's  famous  expression  is 
characteristic,  '  I  do  not  obey  God,  I  assent  with  Him.' 
Pagans  were  slowly  learning  to  say  '  Thy  will  be  done.' 


Suffering,  and  a  new  sensitiveness  to  Suffering 

Suffering  was  performing  its  perfect  work  among  the 
peoples  of  the  Empire.  To  the  Jew  in  his  early  history 
suffering  was  penal,  an  evidence  of  divine  displeasureJ 
This  explanation  would  not  work  in  all  cases,  especially 
where  righteous  and  wicked  Israelites  were  associated 
in  calamity.  Israel  in  the  light  of  her  own  history  and 
the  teachings  of  her  prophets,  began  to  view  suffering  and 
disappointment  in  another  Ught.  The  suffering  Servant 
of  Jehovah — the  incarnation  of  Israel — is  the  grandest 
spiritual  interpretation  of  suffering :  the  suffering  is 
undeserved,  but  redemptive  and  vicarious.  Israel  almost 
came  to  reaUse  that  her  mission  was  to  suffer  for  the 
world. 


128    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

To  the  jo3^ul  spirit  of  Greece  suffering  was  a  dread 
visitation.  The  Prometheus  Vinctus  of  Aeschylus  protests 
against  suffering  which  seemed  divine  oppression.  When  the 
element  of  trouble  entered,  the  Greeks  first  fled  to  pessim- 
ism. But  Greek  pessimism  was  not  the  last  word.  Their 
religious  teachers  wrestled  with  the  question.  Socrates 
and  Plato  asserted  that  no  real  misfortune  can  overtake 
a  good  man,  and  that  he  is  never  neglected  by  the  Deity. 
The  Stoics  denied  that  all  suffering  is  penal,  as  Job  had 
done  for  Israel.  Suffering  must  be  good  for  man,  for  the 
Deity  knows  best  what  to  give.  It  is  only  in  suffering 
that  men  come  to  their  fullest  self-consciousness,  and  that 
virtue  can  be  put  to  the  test  to  produce  examples  of 
spiritual  strength.  In  Roman  literature  the  subject  is 
frequently  touched  upon,  but  Cicero  and  Seneca  are  the 
classical  instances.  Overtaken  by  sorrow  they  became 
stronger  and  better  men,  and  learned  to  strengthen 
their  brethren.  The  disciphnary  mission  of  suffering_was 
acknowledged.     '  Whom  God  loves  He  tries7  says  Seneca. 

There  was  a  new  sensitiveness  to  suffering  brought  about 
through  the  displacement  of  collectivism  by  individuahsm 
and  the  scope  now  allowed  to  the  emotions,  and  by  the 
prominence  of  private  over  public  hfe.  Kaerst  ^  says,  '  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  religious  life  in  the  Hellenistic 
period  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  characteristic  form  of 
private  associations  or  cult-brotherhoods  (Thiasoi),'  and  this 
phenomenon  is  due  largely  to  demand  for  sympathy.  The 
Empire  was  founded  in  suffering.^  Neither  the  conquests 
of  Islam,  nor  the  religious  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
nor  the  Napoleonic  wars  were  fraught  with  such  suffering 
as  the  terrible  period,  say,  from  the  destruction  of  Carthage 
and  Corinth,  146  B.C., or  from  the  era  of  the  Gracchi,  133  B.C., 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  in  31  B.C.     The  ruth- 

1  Oesch.  d.  hdlenistischen  Zeitalters,  vol.  ii.,  i.  280. 

3  Hegel  sees  in  the  tremendous  misery  and  universal  suffering  produced  by 
the  Roman  spirit  of  power  a  sorrow  which  was  to  be  the  *  birth-throe  of  the 
religion  of  truth '  [Phil.  ofRdig.,  Eng.  Tr.,  ii.  322,  and  Phil,  of  Hist.,  p.  330). 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  129 

lessness  of  Roman  conquests,  the  savagery  of  her  civil 
wars,  her  proscriptions,  the  increase  of  slavery,  the  cruel 
slave  insurrections,  the  rise  of  capitaHsm,  complete  economic 
disorganisation,  the  tyranny  of  the  mihtary  over  the  civil 
power,  these  and  similar  causes  produced  an  untold  amount 
of  suffering.  The  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome  had  no  message 
for  men  in  such  agony. ^  It  was  the  opportunity  for  Oriental 
deities  who  were  more  human  and  sympathetic, ^  who 
alternately  suffered  and  rejoiced,  who  died  and  rose  again. 
Their  whole  worship  was  instinct  with  human  sympathy ; 
they  offered  what  men  most  needed.  It  was  the  oppor- 
tunity also  for  Judaism  which  had  so  often  drained  a  bitter 
cup,  but  never  without  hope.  The  message  of  her  prophets, 
her  undjdng  Messianic  hope,  the  influence  of  her  synagogue 
and  her  faith  in  prayer,  made  their  appeal  to  many  an 
earnest  heathen. 

Consolation  Literature 

This  keen  sensitiveness  to  suffering  and  demand  for 
sympathy  gave  rise  to  a  most  curious  Uterary  phenomenon 
— a  Consolation  hterature  in  the  closing  Republic  and 
early  Empire.  We  infer  from  Dio  Chrysostom  {Dis.  27)  t 
that  it  was  quite  usual  to  call  in  a  philosopher  to  administer 
consolations  in  misfortune.  Grantor  was  the  father  of  this 
hterature  ;  he  wrote  a  book  to  a  bereaved  father  so  helpful, 
that  Gicero  speaks  of  it  as  a  '  golden  book,  to  be  learned 
by  heart.'  Grantor  had  catalogued  and  expounded  all  that 
the  wisdom  of  Greece  could  offer  as  solace  in  calamity. 
Consolations  being  in  demand,  there  arose  a  profession  of 
consolers.    Gicero  on  the  death  of  his  daughter  wrote  a 

1  Except  Aesculapius,  who  was  known  as  'greatest  lover  of  men' 
{<f>t.\av6p(t}ir6TaTos). 

2  Lucius  in  his  prayer  to  Isis  says,  'thou  teudest  the  mischances  of 
miserable  men  tvith  a  sweet  mother's  love  .  .  .  alway  by  Irnd  and  sea  thou 
guardest  men,  thou  drivest  from  them  the  storms  of  life  and  stretchest  out 
to  them  thy  saving  hand,  wherewith  thou  unbindest  even  the  inextricabls 
wett  of  Fate'  (Apul.  Met,  11.  25,  Butler's  tr.). 

I 


130    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Gonsolatio  addressed  to  himself ;  his  Tusculan  Disputa- 
tions is  really  a  consolation — at  least,  he  seeks  to  gather 
comfort  from  every  part  of  the  compass  of  philosophy  and 
experience.  Plutarch  wrote  a  book  to  prove  that  exile 
could  be  tolerable  ;  he  also  wrote  a  Consolation  to  his  wife 
in  which  he  commends  her  courage  in  grief  over  the  loss 
of  their  two-year-old  daughter,  and  holds  out  a  faint 
hope  of  immortality.  His  Consolation  to  Apollonius  is  less 
hopeful,  or  rather  despairing.  Some  of  Ovid's  letters  to 
his  wife  in  the  Tristia  are  consolatory,  and  a  spurious 
Consolatio  ad  Liviam  Augustam  has  been  attributed  to  him. 
Seneca  is  the  classic  of  extant  consolers  :  he  addressed  a 
Consolation  to  Marcia  on  the  death  of  her  son,  one  to 
Polyhius  on  the  death  of  his  brother,  while  the  Consolation 
to  his  mother  Helvia  was  intended  to  console  himself  rather 
than  her  on  the  hardships  of  his  exile.  We  know  the  name 
of  a  lost  work  of  his  On  pre7nature  Death,  and  we  have 
fragments  of  his  De  Remediis  Fortuitorum.  Apollonius 
{Ep.  58)  consoled  Valerius  on  the  death  of  his  son.  Con- 
solatory formulae  were  discovered  for  every  calamity,  for 
exile,  old  age,  loss  of  health,  physical  suffering,  confiscation 
of  property,  and  chiefly  for  the  death  of  friends.  Some 
of  the  ingredients  are  to  us  trite  and  commonplace,  but 
when  they  first  were  offered  to  a  sorrowing  world  they 
were  apparently  efficacious.  It  was  recognised  by  con- 
solers, especially  by  Seneca,  that  in  order  to  benefit  those 
in  distress  one  must  study  the  psychology  of  each  individual 
case ;  different  remedies  must  be  appHed  to  different 
cases. 

Sense  of  Sin 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  Greek  and  Roman  paganism 
was  the  absence  of  a  sense  of  sin  and  a  proud  rehance  on 
human  nature.  But  with  a  growing  spiritual  experience 
this  self-sufficiency  of  man  was  shattered,  and  a  sense  of 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  131 

sin  appeared.^  Man  is  more  sensitive  to  sin  in  proportion 
to  his  progress  in  spirituality.  Several  causes  contributed 
to  inoculate  the  peoples  of  the  Empire  with  something 
akin  to  the  Hebrew  sense  of  sinfulness  :  the  contact  with 
the  East,  the  extension  of  reHgious  duahsm,  the  accumu- 
lated results  of  self-examination,  the  influence  of  the  Jew 
with  his  zeal  for  righteousness  and  his  abhorrence  of  sin, 
the  individuaHsing  of  religion,  the  new  emphasis  on  will. 
Stoicism  had  no  high  idea  of  the  general  mass  of  mankind, 
who  were  regarded  as  fools  ;  only  the  wise  man  could  be  a 
saint.  Cleanthes  complains  that  men  will  not  hearken  to 
the  Logos,  preferring  to  Hve  in  wickedness.  Numerous 
voices  were  raised  against  vice,  hypocrisy,  formahty : 
there  were  more  protests  against  sin  than  positive  calls  to 
righteousness.  This  need  not  surprise  us ;  the  destruc- 
tive precedes  the  constructive.  ILivy  complains  *  we  can 
neither  endure  nor  mend  our  faults.'  The  abundant 
protests  against  the  corruption  and  sins  of  the  age  were 
a  healthful  sign.  Moral  directors  and  preachers  are  per- 
suaded that  men  are  moral  invalids  with  sick  souls  in  need 
of  heaUng.2  The  writers  who  most  clearly  reveal  a  sense 
of  the  sinfulness  of  man  are  Virgil  and  Seneca.  The  mystic 
rehgious  spirit  of  Virgil,  which  has  fascinated  centuries, 
was  peculiarly  sensitive  to  the  enormity  of  human  guilt ; 
he  was  painfully  conscious  of  the  world's  need.  Those 
who  read  carefully  the  Georgics  and  more  especially  the 
Aeneid,  will  detect  many  a  passage  in  which  this  prophet 
dares  to  take  a  view  of  the  status  of  man  and  the  sinfulness 
of  his  actions  different  from  that  of  the  majority.  The 
greatness  of  the  Empire  and  its  evident  blessings  did  not 
blind  him  to  the  sin  in  which  it  was  founded.    Conway 

1  'The  complaint  raised  by  Hebrew  conscience  in  the  dawn  of  history 
becomes  the  evening  invocation  of  Hellenic  philosophy.'— Hausrath,  Apostles, 

2  'Throughout  the  world  of  St.  Paul  we  see  a  mighty  wandering  of  pilgrims 
desirous  to  wash  away  their  sins  at  the  great  shrines  and  to  be  delivered  of 
their  need.' — Deissmann,  St.  Paul,  p.  44. 


132    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [oH. 

asks,  '  What  is  the  tremendous  machinery  of  punishment 
after  death  which  the  Sixth  Book  describes  in  the  most 
majestic  passage  of  all  epic  poetry  {Aen.,  vi.  548-627), 
but  the  measure  of  Virgil's  sense  of  human  guilt  ? '  ^  Seneca 
is  painfully  conscious  of  the  weakness  and  sinfulness  of 
human  nature.*  With  Paul  he  exclaims,  '  we  have  all 
sinned.  As  our  fathers  complained  of  the  moral  degenera- 
tion of  their  days,  so  must  we  lament  our  corruption,  and 
posterity  will  point  to  us  as  a  sinful  age.  The  fashion  in 
vices  may  change,  its  reign  is  as  powerful  as  ever  :  we  are 
wicked,  have  been  wicked,  and  shall  continue  to  be  wicked. 
After  the  restoration  of  all  things,  men  will  abandon 
innocence  and  relapse  into  sin.'  In  spite  of  his  faith  in 
the  kinship  of  man  with  the  Divine,  he  is  forced  to  recognise 
the  presence  of  an  irrational  element  in  his  nature  connected 
chiefly  with  the  body,  the  flesh  as  he  calls  it,  and  this  wars 
against  the  higher  hfe ;  and  in  spite  of  his  Stoicism  he 
confesses  that  man  cannot  help  himself,  God  must  stretch 
forth  his  hand  to  him  :  adscendentibus  di  manum  porrigunt. 

Union  of  Morality  and  Religion 

We  note  a  gradual  convergence  of  morahty  and  religion,' 
the  inseparable  union  of  which  was  consummated  under 
Christianity.  PoUtical  religion  had  perished,  and  personal 
reUgion  was  of  supreme  importance  :  the  question  was 
how  to  please  God  best.  The  prophets  of  Israel  and  the 
dramatists  and  philosophers  of  Greece  had  not  laboured 
in  vain  in  calling  men  to  serve  God  with  pure  hearts  and 
upright  lives.  The  oft-repeated  precept  to  follow  God  or 
imitate  God  signified  a  moral  life.*     The  dividing  lines 

1  Virgil's  Messianic  Eel.,  p.  37. 

2  Of.  De  Bene/.,  i.  10,  de  Clem.,  i.  6,  Ep.  29. 

»  L.  Campbell  says  that  after  Plato's  day  *  religion  amongst  thoughtful  men 
could  not  longer  be  dirorced  from  an  elevated  morality'  (p.  367).  Cf. 
Theaetetus,  176  B.,  where  the  upright  man  is  said  to  have  the  truest 
likeness  to  God. 

*  Cf.  Seneca,  Ep.  xv.  3.  '  Vis  deos  propitiare  ?  Bonus  esto :  satis  illos 
coluit  quisquis  imitatus  est.' 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  133 

among  humanity  were  no  longer  racial  or  national,  but 
moral :  men  were  either  good  or  wicked ;  virtue  and 
vice  were  the  criteria.  The  wicked  were  thus  deprived 
of  the  protection  of  tradition  and  custom.  There  was  an 
ever-deepening  sense  of  the  worth  of  the  soul  and  the  value 
of  character  as  the  inalienable  possession  of  man.  The 
desire  for  moral  guidance  and  the  need  of  spiritual  support 
went  together.  Men  were  willing  to  practise  renunciation, 
to  mortify  the  body  for  the  health  of  the  soul.  Even  the 
hfe  beyond  was  bound  to  this  in  a  moral  nexus.  Thus 
ethics  succeeded  to  the  large  place  vacated  by  politics. 
The  lives  of  men  were  standardised  by  the  noblest  examples 
of  incarnate  virtue.  Religion  had  turned  inward,  and  after 
having  prompted  to  self-examination  reacted  upon  conduct. 

Religion  Popularised 

As  noted  already  (p.  11),  the  epoch  of  the  advent  of 
Christianity  was  a  democratic  era.  Jewish  worship  had 
in  the  Synagogue  grown  more  popular,  and  this  character 
was  emphasised  in  the  Diaspora.  In  Greece  philosophy 
had  left  the  study  to  make  an  attempt  to  reach  the  masses. 
It  was  the  masses — often  with  leaders  from  the  aristocracy 
— that  put  an  end  to  the  most  powerful  oUgarchy  of 
history,  and  set  up  the  Empire.  The  emperors  were 
dependent  for  the  stabiUty  of  their  power  on  the  favour 
of  the  populace.  The  reUgions  of  the  Orient  gained  their 
victory  over  the  West  primarily  by  the  patronage  of  the 
masses  and  in  the  face  of  long-continued  official  opposition. 
Popular  preachers  and  lecturers,  and  a  kind  of  ancient 
Salvation-army  workers,  found  abundant  scope  and 
encouragement.  Philosophers,  religious  teachers,  poli- 
ticians and  statesmen  were  looking  with  as  much  anxiety 
upon  the  masses  then,  as  the  Church  and  the  State  are 
now.  Among  the  masses  was  the  greatest  religious 
activity,  and  more  faith  than  among  their  leaders ;    the 


134    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  C5HRISTIANITT  [OB. 

people  went  their  own  way,  leaving  their  aristocratic  and 
literary  brethren  to  their  intellectualism.  If  the  inner 
history  of  the  pagan  masses  of  Greece  and  Rome  were 
written  we  should  find  many  phenomena  analogous  to 
those  which  meet  us  in  early  Christianity — immense  re- 
ligious activity,  the  people  taking  the  initiative  and  in- 
augurating movements  that  conquered  the  upper  classes. 
CJonstantine  merely  passed  approval  on  what  the  masses 
had  done.  Deissmann  ^  has  shown  how  Christianity 
started  with  the  masses,  working  from  beneath  upwards, 
like  the  sap  of  the  tree  in  spring,  until  gradually  the 
authorities  were  brought  under  the  spiritual  power  accepted 
by  the  poor  and  needy.  At  first  not  many  rich  or  noble 
were  counted  in  the  Christian  ranks  :  Christianity  made  its 
most  successful  propaganda  among  the  lower  strata  of 
society.  It  would  seem  as  if  in  the  victory  attending  the 
movements  (especially  Christianity)  originating  among, 
or  accepted  and  furthered  by,  the  masses  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  history  has  written  for  us  a  warning  that  whatever 
makes  its  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  the  lower  orders  of 
society  in  one  century — however  opposed  to  the  authority 
of  state  or  church,  however  contemned  by  the  cultured — 
shall  in  a  later  century  be  crowned  with  success. 

Demand  for  Religions  of  Redemption 

The  yearning  for  poHtical  and  social  rest  and  stability, 
for  certainty  and  authority  in  philosophy  and  reHgion, 
was  parallel  to  a  universal  demand  for  salvation — salvation 
from  the  confusion  and  isolation  of  the  individual,  from  the 

ialmost  universal  sense  of  decay  and  degeneration,^  from 

f 

i  1  Das  Urchristentum  u.  d.  unteren  Schichten  (1908),  and  Light  from  the 
Ancient  East  (passim),  but  cf.  Harnack,  Der  proletarische  Char.  d.  Vrchrist. 
{Redenu.  AicfsiUze,  ii.  175),  and  Orr,  Neglected  Factors,  ch.  ii. 

'  The  ancients — with  the  exception  of  the  Jews — had  almost  no  sense  of 
evolution  or  an  'increasing  purpose'  in  world-history.  Their  view  was 
diametrically  the  opposite  of  ours.  They  regarded  human  history  as  a 
steady  degeneration,  a  progress  to  decay  ;  their  Golden  .^ge  lay  in  the  past. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  135 

the  oppression  of  fatalism  and  astral  worship,  from  the 
evils  of  duahsm,  the  inherent  evil  of  matter  and  the  body, 
the  hindrances  that  prevent  the  soul  from  returning  to 
its  *dear  fatherland,'  the  sense  of  estrangement  from  the 
Deity,  from  the  darkness  of  death,  and  emphatically  from 
the  power  of  the  demons.  The  term  Saviour  ^  was  appUed  ' 
to  several  gods,  to  Zeus,  ApoUo,  and  Asclepius  ^  ;  it  was 
lent  as  a  surname  to  other  deities — Hermes,  Poseidon, 
Serapis,  the  Dioscuri.  Finally,  as  the  partition  between 
divine  and  human  was  broken  down,  the  term  Saviour 
was  applied  to  men,  even  in  their  lifetime,  as  by  the 
Athenians  to  Antigonus  and  Demetrius  Pohorcetes. 
Antiochus  the  Great  was  also  a  Saviour.  The  Athenians 
addressed  Julius  as  their  '  Saviour  and  Benefactor '  ;  the 
Ephesians  addressed  him  as  '  God  manifest,  the  common 
Saviour  of  human  life.'  In  the  Hahcamassus  inscription 
Augustus  is  '  the  Saviour  of  the  whole  human  race.'  These 
examples  of  emperors  addressed  as  Saviour,  Deliverer, 
Benefactor  might  be  greatly  multiplied.  Much  of  this 
was  flattery  ;  but  it  reflects  therein  the  universal  demand 
for  someone  to  interfere  when  the  times  were  out  of  joint, 
and  restore  security  and  bestow  rest  upon  the  world. 
Men  were  everywhere  longing  for  a  reign  of  peace.  The^ 
salvation  they  sighed  for  was  sometimes  rather  political 
and  physical  than  moral  and  spiritual.  But  with  the 
restoration  of  outward  peace  the  demand  for  inner  peace 
grew  more  imperious.  Men  wished  to  see  a  God  incarnate. 
'  No  one  could  be  a  god  any  longer  unless  he  was  also  a 
saviour.'  The  Septuagint  had  doubtless  accustomed  the 
Greeks,  and  through  them  the  Romans,  to  the  conception 
of  God  as  a  Saviour.     Men  would  tolerate  no  rehgion  that 

This  is  one  cause  of  the  despair  of  this  age  when  the  props  of  ancient  systems 
were  removed.    Cf.  Ramsay,  Expositor,  June  1907. 

1  Cf.  art.  Sa;TT7p  by  Wendland  in  Zeitsch  f.  neutest.  Wiss.,  v.  335-53; 
Weiss,  Heiland  in  Relig.  in  Gesch.  u,  Geqenwart,  and  Kaerst,  il.  i. 
378  flf. 

2  The  extension  of  the  cult  of  this  Healing-God  is  very  characteristic  of 
the  period. 


136    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

did  not  undertake  to  raise  them  above  the  weight  of  the 
finite,  to  remove  the  sense  of  estrangement,  to  bring  them 
in  the  ecstasy  of  the  Vision  Beatific  into  mystic  communion 
with  the  Divine,  to  bestow  charismatic  grace  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  life,  to  hold  out  a  revelation  and  the  hope 
of  bHss  beyond.  Wendland  remarks  :  *  Redemption  is 
concerned  not  so  much  with  guilt  and  sin  as  with  corporeity 
and  matter,  finiteness  and  transitoriness.  Guilt  and  sin 
themselves  appear  as  physical  defilement,  since  they  are 
grounded  in  man's  material  nature.  Therefore  redemption 
is  conceived  of  as  essentially  *  physical'  {naturhaft),  and 
is  determined  by  the  duaHsm  both  of  man's  nature  and  of 
the  two  worlds.  These  conceptions  and  motives,  first 
recognisable  in  Posidonius,  dominate  subsequent  philoso- 
phical and  religious  development.  In  the  time  of  Augustus 
the  feeling  of  guilt  and  longing  for  communion  and  renewal 
emerge  prominently.'  *  Only  redemptive  rehgions  were 
in  demand.  This  accounts  for  the  popularity  of  the 
Oriental  cults,  for  the  success  of  Jewish  propaganda,  and 
for  the  attraction  which  Christianity  exercised  upon  the 
masses. 

Expectancy 

The  ancient  world  was  persuaded  that  it  would  not  look 
in  vain  for  salvation.  There  was  an  attitude  of  expectancy 
in  East  and  West  about  the  time  of  the  appearance  of 
Christianity.  Messianic  ideas  were  in  the  air.  The  story 
of  the  Magi  is  evidence  of  a  behef  in  a  Saviour-King  to 
be  bom  :  this  story  may  connect  us  with  the  Eastern 
(Babylonian)  settlements  of  the  Jews,  or  with  the  Persian 
religion  which  beheved  in  the  coming  of  a  supernatural 
person  to  assure  the  victory  of  Ormudz  over  Ahriman. 
In  Judaea  and  Galilee  such  expectancy  was  most  intense. 

1  'Hellenistic  Ideas  of  Salvation,'  Amer.  Journal  of  Thed.,  July  1913, 
p.  346. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  137 

The  first  two  chapters  in  Luke  portray  with  local  colouring 
some  types  of  those  who  were  waiting  for  the  Consolation 
of  Israel.  The  Deliverer  was  expected  soon.  Any  one 
who  proclaimed  himself  Messiah  found  an  enthusiastic 
following.  The  salvation  expected  from  this  coming 
Messiah  was  often,  Uke  that  looked  for  by  Greek  and 
Roman,  more  poHtical  and  social  than  spiritual.  The 
prophe^iic  and  highly-strung  spirit  of  the  Baptist  was 
sensitive  to  this  hope  of  the  age,  which  drove  him  out  into 
the  wilderness  to  preach  repentance  before  the  judgment 
of  the  Coming  One. 

The  West  was  not  a  stranger  to  some  vague  Messianic 
expectation.  With  the  establishment  of  the  Empire,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  great  cycle  had  run  its  course  and  the 
golden  age  was  about  to  return,  when  kindly  Saturn  was 
to  reign  once  more  and  Justice  return  to  earth  to  inaugurate 
a  reign  of  peace  and  harmony.  The  JuUan  comet  in  44  B.C. 
marked  the  last  month  but  one  of  the  magnus  annits,  after 
which  the  world  would  begin  its  course  anew.  Horace  in  his 
Carmen  Saeculare  hails  a  new  epoch  of  peace  and  justice. 
The  reUgious  spirit  of  Virgil  was  most  sensitive  to  such 
a  hope.  His  Messianic  Eclogue  {Ed.  iv.)  ^  prophesies  the 
birth  of  a  wonderful  child  destined  to  usher  in  a  new  and 
happy  epoch.  In  its  sublimity  and  form  of  expression  this 
Eclogue  so  resembles  the  Messianic  portions  of  Isaiah  that 
for  many  centuries  it  passed  as  an  inspired  prophecy  of 
the  Christ.  One  of  the  latest  writers  on  the  Messianic 
idea  in  Virgil,  Professor  Conway,  says,  '  it  can  hardly,  I 
think,  be  denied,  that  in  both  the  Georgics  and  the  Aeneid 
we  continually  meet  with  a  conception  which  in  many  ways 
is  parallel  to  the  Jewish  expectation  of  a  Messiah  ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  conception  of  a  national  hero  and  ruler,  divinely 
inspired,  and  sent  to  deliver  not  his  own  nation  only,  but 

1  Probably  in  reply  to  Horace,  Epode  rri.,  in  irhicli  for  Suis  et  ipsa 
Roma  viribus  ruit  Horace  has  no  hope  except  the  fantastic  Arva,  beata 
Petamus  arva,  divites  et  insulas.    Cf.  Ramsay,  Expositor,  June  1907. 


138    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

mankind,  raising  them  to  a  new  and  ethically  higher 
existence.*  ^ 

He  finds  in  Virgil  the  *  conscious  possession '  of  these 
ideas  :  (1)  '  That  the  guilt  of  mankind  had  grown  to  be 
unendurable,  so  that  the  world  was  pitiably  in  need  of 
regeneration.  (2)  That  the  estabUshment  of  the  Empire 
was  an  epoch  strangely  favourable  to  some  such  ethical 
movement,  and  intended  by  Providence  to  introduce  it. 
(3)  That  it  was  part  of  the  duty  of  Rome  to  attempt  the 
task.  (4)  That  one  special  deliverer  would  be  sent  by 
Providence  (or,  in  the  Aeneid,  that  a  deUverer  had  already 
been  sent)  to  begin  the  work.  (5)  That  the  work  would 
involve  suffering  and  disappointment ;  and  that  its  essence 
lay  in  a  new  spirit,  a  new  and  more  humane  ideal'  (pp.  31-2). 

Mayor  ^  and  Ramsay  '  show  that  there  was  no  difficulty 
for  Virgil  to  have  derived  these  beliefs  from  an  Eastern 
(Jewish)  source,  either  a  Greek  version  of  Isaiah  (Ramsay), 
or  the  Jewish  Sibylline  books  (Mayor).  The  Romans  could 
hardly  have  so  much  to  do  with  Syria  from  the  second 
century  B.C.,  without  learning  Messianic  ideas.  In  the 
first  century  B.C.  in  Egypt  the  Romans  might  easily  come 
to  know  the  LXX  or  other  Greek  versions  of  Hebrew 
writings.  Surely  through  the  heathen  adherents  of  the 
Synagogue,  this  *  finest  optimism  in  the  ancient  world ' 
must  have  spread  among  the  heathen  to  a  large  extent. 
It  was  certain  to  attract  attention  as  the  grand  exception 
to  the  prevalent  hopelessness  of  the  age.  Philo,  whose  works 
were  so  largely  intended  for  Greek  readers,  refers  to  this 
coming  age  (cf.  On  Rewards  and  Punishments,  16).  At 
the  time  of  the  Jewish  war  the  Romans  knew  of  this  hope 
of  the  Jew.  Tacitus  *  says  that '  the  majority  (of  the  Jews) 
were  persuaded  that  according  to  their  ancient  sacred 
scriptures  at  that  very  time  the  Orient  should  get  the 
upper  hand,  and  that  from  Judaea  should  come  the  rulers 

1  Op.  eit.,  p.  31.  «  Virgil's  Mess.  Ed.,  iii. 

»  Expositor,  June  and  August  1907.  *  Hist.,  v.  13. 


IV.]  RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  139 

of  the  world.'  Suetonius  ^  reports  that  *  an  ancient  and  per- 
sistent idea  was  circulated  throughout  the  whole  East,  that 
it  was  fated  that  at  that  time  the  rulers  of  the  world  should 
arise  from  Judaea.'  Schiirer  *  thinks  that  these  two  authors 
drew  from  Josephus,'  but  this  is  not  necessary ;  the 
Synagogue  with  its  '  God-fearers,'  the  LXX  and  the 
Sibylline  Oracles  had  made  the  idea  of  a  Messianic  age 
familiar  enough.* 

The  ancient  world  had  turned  its  eyes  to  the  East  for 
help :  it  was  expecting  Him  who  is  '  the  Desire  of  all 
Nations.' 

1  Vesp.,  4.  "^  ii.  604,  where  other  references  are  glyen. 

'  Jos.  B.  J.,  6.  5.  4,  politically  refers  it  to  Vespasian. 
*  *  Das  jiidische  Messiasthum  ist  im  ganzen  Orient  und  auch  im  Occideut 
•  .  .  ein  gelaufiger  Begriff.'— Keim,  Rom  u,  d,  Chrittcntum,  p.  109. 


140    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   JEW 

Thus  the  sharp  contrasts  of  the  Sculptor's  plan 

Showed  the  two  primal  paths  our  race  has  trod  : — 

Hellas,  the  nurse  of  man  complete  as  man, 
Judaea,  pregnant  with  the  living  God. — S.  H.  Butcher.* 

And  as  long  as  the  world  lasts  all  who  want  to  make  progress  in 
righteousness  will  come  to  Israel  for  inspiration,  as  to  the  people  who 
have  had  the  sense  for  righteousness  most  glowing  and  strongest,  and 
in  hearing  and  reading  the  words  Israel  has  uttered  for  us,  carers  for 
conduct  will  find  a  glow  and  a  force  they  could  find  nowhere  else. — 
M.  Arnold. 

Victi  victoribus  leges  dederunt. — Seneca  (in  Augustine). 

We  come  now  to  consider  briefly  the  character,  genius,  and 
merits  of  the  three  great  peoples  who  prepared  the  way  of 
the  Lord  and  to  whom  Christianity  was  first  preached,  and 
in  whose  languages  was  written  the  superscription  on  the 
Cross. 

CharcLcter 

Hebrew  character  ^  is  more  simple  and  monotonous  than 
the  Greek.  The  Hebrew  was  a  man  of  few  interests,  his 
one  absorbing  interest  being  his  relation  to  his  God. 
Though  oppressed  by  a  sense  of  their  inherent  weakness  and 
sinfulness,  no  people  ever  had  a  grander  conception  of  their 
high  calling  and  purpose  in  history  ;  they  were  possessed  of 
a  proud  self- consciousness  which  raised  them  above  all  their 

1  Harvard  Lectures  on  Oreek  Subjects,  p.  42. 

*  This  section  and  the  next  are  condensed  from  the  writer's  articles, 
Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Roman,'  in  Review  and  Expositor,  April  and  July  1913. 


T.]  THE  JEW  141 

conquerors.  They  believed  that  in  them  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  should  be  blessed.  There  was  a  puzzUng 
duahsm  or  strange  contradiction  in  their  character ;  in 
spite  of  his  deep  yearnings  after  God  the  Jew  manifested 
a  strange  hankering  after  the  baser  and  more  material ;  his 
spiritual  history  is  one  of  ebb  and  flow — sin,  repentance, 
joy.  He  had  a  conscience  more  sensitive  than  that  of  any 
other  ancient  people.  He  was  a  stranger  to  some  of  the 
worst  perplexities  and  contradictions  of  life  ;  he  was  con- 
tent, hke  a  child,  not  to  pry  too  much  into  the  secrets  of 
the  Almighty ;  he  left  a  large  margin  for  the  mysterious. 
Jewish  character  is  marked  by  its  impressive  sohtariness. 
The  Jew  dwelt  apart.  '  The  two  Uving  reaHties,  God  and 
the  Soul,  are  face  to  face  engaged  in  everlasting  colloquy  * ;  ^ 
there  is  much  room  for  the  thought  of  God  and  the  con- 
templation of  the  Infinite.  This  sohtariness  of  character 
is  all  the  more  striking  in  a  people  that  developed  the  most 
tenacious  social  consciousness  of  antiquity.  Akin  to  this 
lonehness  is  the  Hebrew  sadness  (not  pessimism,  which 
was  the  form  so  usual  to  Greek  sadness)  ;  his  rehgion  was 
of  a  sombre  cast  though  his  ideal  was  joy.  In  his  litera- 
ture we  find  the  rerum  lacrymae,  but  '  we  have  not  the 
laughter  as  well  as  the  tears  of  humanity' ^  from  'this 
grimly  earnest  people.'  We  note  also  the  Hebrew  way 
of  looking  at  things  sub  specie  aeternitatis — the  everlast- 
ing and  infinite  in  his  character :  '  He  hath  set  Eternity 
in  their  hearts.'  Hope  was  the  keynote  of  Hebrew  char- 
acter ;  no  people  ever  hoped  so  long  and  so  patiently. 
They  had  firm  faith  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
would  do  right,  and  they  were  wiUing  to  wait  for  Him. 
They  beheved  that  Jahweh  heard  prayer  and  that  He 
would  not  forsake  His  inheritance.  However  distress- 
ing the  vicissitudes  of  their  national  life,  however  dark 
the  present,  the  future  was  theirs.     '  The  Best  is  yet  to 

1  Butcher,  Harvard  Lectures,  p.  15. 
»  Ibid.,  p.  16. 


142    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

be.'  Their  Golden  Age  lay  always  in  front.  Its  most 
characteristic  expression  was  the  Messianic  hope — the 
sublimest  optimism  in  the  old  world — which,  as  a  Jewish 
rabbi  says,  '  has  become  the  driving-wheel  of  all  civihsed 
humanity.'  ^  '  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him,' 
was  faith  which  allowed  God  plenty  of  scope  to  work  out 
His  purposes  while  His  servants  waited  in  patience.  They 
were  the  only  ancient  people  that  grasped  firmly  the  thought 
of  a  purpose  in  history.  Nojrace  was  ever  so  patient  with 
itsGod.  One  of  the  most  striking  traits  in  Jewish  char- 
acter was  its  attitude  to  suffering.  The  Jew  was  a  man 
of  sorrows,  and  the  world  owes  him  the  highest  and  most 
spiritual  interpretation  of  human  suffering.  The  Suffering 
Servant  of  the  Deutero-Isaiah  has  appealed  to  the  hearts 
of  all  ages  as  a  prophecy  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows.  The  Jew 
has  shown  us  how  to  bear  the  heaviest  burden  of  sorrow  : 
he  has  convinced  mankind  that  sorrow  has  not  a  negative 
but  a  positive  value  in  human  character  and  destiny.  The 
steadfastness  of  Jewish  character  and  the  loftiness  of  his 
ideals  have  made  him  a  lasting  force  in  the  world.  A  fitting 
symbol  of  this  unconquerable  people  is  the  burning  bush — 
burning  but  not  consumed. 

Mind  and  Genius 

The  Jewish  mind  and  genius  were  also  one-sided.  The 
Jews  had  no  genius  for  art,  politics,  or  speculation.  They 
did  not  dwell  upon  nature  to  ideafise  it  but  soared  immedi- 
ately to  God.  The  only  form  of  art  cultivated  among  them 
was  reHgious  lyrical  poetry,  in  which  they  have  never  been 
surpassed.  Their  thoughts  were  constantly  projected  be- 
yond into  the  infinite  which  eludes  all  art  (except,  perhaps, 
music).  Their  mind  was  dominated  by  one  idea — the 
reUgious ;  it  was  calm  and  contemplative,  unquestioning, 
unmetaphysical ;   concrete,  or  at  least  realistic,  it  dealt  in 

>  Kohler,  Orundriss  einer  system.  Theologie  d.  Judentwns,  p.  283. 


v.]  THE  JEW  143 

symbols  rather  than  ideas  :  the  power  of  grasping  a  com- 
plex subject  with  due  subordination  of  the  parts  to  the 
whole  was  not  theirs.  They  had  no  sense  of  organic  unity. 
TThe  Jew  had  not  the  restless  inquisitive  intellect  of  the 
Greek,  but  he  had  a  hungry  heart  that  yearned  after 
righteousness  and  communion  with  God.  Not  artists  them- 
selves, *  they  have  left  that  new  creative  life  of  the  soul 
which  makes  art  possible  ;  they  produced  that  which 
produced  art.'  ^  The  unique,  if  one-sided,  genius  of  the 
Jew  made  for  spirituaUty.  He  specialised  in  reHgion; 
we  expect  the  merits  and  defectToTa  speciaUst.  Romanes 
says,  'if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Jews  the  human  race 
would  not  have  had  any  reHgion  worth  our  serious  atten- 
tion as  such.*  It  is  where  we  feel  noblest  and  most  divine 
that  the  Hebrew  speaks  to  us — in  our  spiritual  and  religious 
being,  where  sweet  memories,  purest  motives,  and  deepest, 
most  imperious  needs  have  their  arena.  He  has  bequeathed 
to  us  priceless  rehgious  classics.  In  our  prayers  we  can 
often,  like  the  ancient  Hebrew,  find  no  language  but  a  cry, 
or  if  we  translate  the  cry  into  language  we  often  cannot 
do  better  than  use  the  words  which  rose  to  Jahweh  from 
IsraeUtish  hearts  many  centuries  since. 

The  Diaspora 

^  Like  other  ancient  peoples  the  Jew  at  first  lived  and 
worked  behind  closed  doors,  forming  his  character  and 
maturing  his  peculiar  aptitudes.  The  dispersion  (Diaspora) 
of  the  Jews  among  the  nations  was  probably  the  largest 
single  factor  in  the  preparation  for  Christianity,  and  one 
main  reason  for  its  remarkable  success.  The  dispersion 
of  Israel  was  as  necessary  for  her  own  world-mission  and 
for  Christianity  as  was  previously  her. seclusion.  Several 
causes  contributed  to  drive  this  people  forth  on  their 
world-mission  :  forcible  deportations,  voluntary  emigration, 

1  Forsyth,  Christ  on  Parnassus,  p.  72, 


144    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

the  inducements  held  out  by  friendly  governments,  the 
promise  of  special  privileges,  the  allurements  of  trade,  the 
disintegrating  power  of  Hellenism.  The  Eastern  Diaspora 
to  Assyria,  Media,  Babylonia  commenced  some  centuries 
before  the  Western,  and  was  mostly  due  to  compulsion ;  the 
Western  was  chiefly  voluntary.  Tiglath-Pileser  of  Assyria, 
who  inaugurated  '  the  first  experiment  in  poHtical  central- 
isation,' deported  in  739  B.C.  the  northern  portion  of  the 
northern  kingdom ;  in  722  B.C.  Sargon  captured  Samaria 
(which  had  been  invested  by  Shalmaneser  iv.  in  725)  and 
carried  into  Assyria  27,200  persons,  which  was  apparently 
the  greatest  of  these  early  deportations  (2  Kings  xvii.  6). 
A  portion  of  these  northern  exiles  may  have  drifted  into 
heathenism  ;  at  any  rate,  the  Ten  Tribes  never  returned, 
and  have  been  variously  conjectured  to  be  the  ancestors 
of  the  Nestorians,  western  Chinese,  Afghans,  and  even  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  But  a  great  number,  if  not  the  majority, 
retained  their  nationality  :  Josephus  says,  '  the  ten  tribes 
remain  to  this  day  beyond  the  Euphrates,  countless 
myriads  whose  numbers  cannot  be  told.'  Sennacherib 
began  the  deportation  of  the  southern  kingdom,  carry- 
ing away  200,150  people  from  Judaea.  Esar-haddon  and 
Assur-banipal  probably  continued  the  pohcy  of  deporta- 
tions. Israel  was  so  depopulated  that,  from  the  time  of 
Esar-haddon,  the  Assyrian  kings  sent  colonies  of  heathen 
to  occupy  the  empty  territory.  The  Chaldean  Nebuchad- 
rezzar finally  uprooted  Judah.  When  he  defeated  Egypt 
at  Carchemish,  605  B.C.,  he  carried  away  hostages  from 
Judah,  among  whom  were  Daniel  and  his  companions. 
Again,  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiachin,  he  deported  10,000  of 
the  principal  inhabitants  who  might  cause  unrest.  Finally, 
in  586  B.C.,  he  captured  Jerusalem  and  deported  the 
remainder  of  the  leading  citizens,  leaving  only  the  poorest 
sort.  These  exiles  were  the  founders  of  the  powerful 
Babylonian  colony  which  was  a  centre  of  Jewish  life  and 
thought  for  over  1000  years.     Zealous  of  their  traditions 


v.]  THE  JEW  1« 

and  law,  they  boasted  that  only  the  chaff  returned  tc 
Judah  under  the  Persian,  and  the  finest  of  the  wheal 
remained  at  Babylon.  There  was  another  eastern  deporta- 
tion (to  Hyrcania),  under  Artaxerxes  Ochus  {cir.  350  B.C.). 
Egypt  was  from  an  early  period  a  place  of  refuge  for  those 
in  disgrace  or  trouble  in  Israel,  as  in  the  emigration  aftei 
the  murder  of  Gedaliah  (Jer.  xli.  16  ff.).  The  Tel-el- 
Amama  tablets  mention  Habiri  (supposedly  Hebrews), 
but  not  as  residents.  The  Assouan  (Aramaic)  papyri 
testify  to  the  existence  of  Jewish  colonies  under  Persian 
domination.  Pseudo-Aristeas  refers  to  a  deportation 
under  Psammetichus. 

In  the  Greek  period  the  Diaspora  spread  apace  both  in 
East  and  West  owing  to  the  blending  of  nations,  the 
enormous  intermixture  of  diverse  populations,  the  recast- 
ing of  poUtical  constitutions,  voluntary  migrations,  th« 
opportunities  for  adventure  and  the  favour  of  rulers. 
Alexander  and  the  most  of  the  Diadochi  were  well-disposed 
toward  the  Jews,  and  offered  them  special  privileges.  In 
new  foundations  like  Alexandria  and  Antioch  Jews  were 
admitted  as  citizens. 

Ubiquity  and  Power  of  Diaspora 

For  the  spread  of  Christianity,  the  ubiquity  and  numberi 
of  the  Diaspora  are  of  importance.  We  have  evidence  of 
their  presence  East  and  West,  in  Mesopotamia  and  othei 
inner  regions  of  Asia  Minor,  on  the  shores  of  the  Black 
Sea,  in  the  Crimea,  Syria,  Egypt,  Greece  and  the  islands 
of  the  Aegean,  Macedonia,  Crete,  Cyprus,  the  Cjrrenaica, 
Numidia,  the  Province  of  Africa,  Mauretania,  Rome,  Italy, 
and,  in  the  later  Empire,  in  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Germany. 
Especially  from  the  second  century  B.C.,  the  Diaspora 
assumed  tremendous  proportions.  Josephus  speaks  of 
the  '  countless  myriads '  of  the  descendants  of  the  Tej 
Tribes  in  Mesopotamia,  and  Philo  refers  to  all  this  region, 

K 


146    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca 

including  Babylon,  as  having  a  Jewish  population.  The 
Sibylline  Oracles  declare  '  every  land  and  every  sea  is  full 
of  them  '  (second  century  B.C.).  Josephus  says,  '  there  is 
no  people  on  the  earth  that  has  not  a  portion  of  us,'  and 
he  cites  Strabo  as  declaring  that  they  had  '  entered  every 
city,  and  no  place  in  the  world  can  be  found  that  has  not 
received  this  race  and  been  possessed  by  it.'  Philo  cites 
from  the  letter  of  Agrippa  to  Cahgula  that  '  Jerusalem  is 
the  capital  not  of  Judaea  only,  but  of  most  countries,' 
and  then  follows  a  hst  of  the  widely  scattered  Jewish 
colonies.  According  to  Philo,  two-fifths  of  the  populous 
city  of  Alexandria  were  Jewish  in  his  day,  and  Philo 
reckons  the  Jews  in  Egypt  alone  as  about  1,000,000. 
They  were  present  in  sufficient  numbers  in  Alexandria, 
Antioch,  Sardis,  and  elsewhere  to  be  thoroughly  hated,  and 
to  make  reprisals  in  bloody  frays.  Josephus  speaks  of 
2, 700,000  as  present  at  a  festival  in  Jerusalem.  Strabo  says 
that  one-fourth  of  Cjo-ene  was  Jewish.  Their  numbers  in 
the  Roman  Empire  are  variously  estimated  from  8,000,000 
and  upwards,  which  with  their  social  tenacity  and  splendid 
organisation  rendered  them  formidable  even  to  Rome. 
Their  power  in  the  Empire  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  Rome, 
so  intolerant  of  any  imperium  in  imperio,  endeavoured 
to  pacify  them  and  hesitated  to  provoke  them.  Rome 
curtailed  none  of  the  privileges  they  had  secured  under 
the  Diadochi,  but  even  protected  and  extended  them. 
The  Roman  Emperors,  with  few  exceptions,  were  favour- 
able to  the  Jews.  In  the  Roman  civil  wars  both  sides 
courted  them.  Caesar  became  their  patron,  and  they 
lamented  his  assassination  for  days.  Augustus  continued 
the  philo-Judaic  pohcy,  securing  to  the  Jews  free  and 
undisturbed  exercise  of  their  worship  throughout  the 
Empire.  Josephus  mentions  long  lists  of  special  legisla- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  Jews.  The  law  against  private 
associations  was  relaxed  in  their  favour  ;  Roman  governors 
were  required  to  secure  Jewish  subjects  the  unrestricted 


v.]  THE  JEW  147 

freedom  of  their  rights ;  their  religion  was  acknowledged  as 
a  reli^io  licita ;  they  were  excused  from  participation  in  the 
imperial  cult,  for  refusing  to  comply  with  which  Christians 
suffered  so  cruelly,  and  from  military  service.  Augustus 
enacted  that  they  could  not  be  summoned  before  a  court 
on  the  Sabbath  ;  if  a  distribution  of  money  or  com  fell 
on  a  Sabbath  the  Jews  were  to  receive  their  portion  next 
day,  and  for  the  distribution  of  oil  they  received  a  com- 
mutation in  money.  Their  existence  as  a  church  in 
the  state  was  recognised  by  Rome.  For  civil  processes 
between  Jews  they  were  allowed  to  use  their  own  law 
and  hold  their  own  courts ;  even  Jews  possessing  Roman 
citizenship  preferred  their  own  courts.  A  measure  of 
independence  was  also  accorded  them  in  criminal  cases 
among  themselves.  They  were  allowed  to  collect  and 
administer  their  own  funds.  Even  after  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  the  Roman  authorities  scarcely  curtailed  their 
privileges,  except  by  the  diversion  of  the  tax  of  two  drach- 
mae to  the  CapitoUne  temple.  When  some  Greek  cities, 
taking  advantage  of  the  Jewish  disasters,  requested  the 
rescinding  of  Jewish  privileges,  the  government  peremp- 
torily refused.  Students  of  Roman  history  know  that 
Rome  would  not  have  granted  such  an  exceptional  place 
to  a  hated  people  except  on  grounds  of  necessity.  The 
hostihty  of  the  Jew  was  the  greatest  menace  to  the  peace 
of  the  Empire. 

Organisation 

Their  power  was  not  due  to  their  formidable  numbers 
only,  but  to  their  splendid  organisation.  Though  without 
any  pohtical  genius  they  reared  an  organisation  that  defied 
Rome.  The  Jew  never  amalgamated  with  other  races  so  as 
to  lose  his  rehgion  or  racial  consciousness.  He  met  the  scorn 
and  hate  of  the  world  with  the  pride  of  a  superior  people. 
Wherever  the  Jew  emigrated  he  sought  out  his  brethren 
and  formed  a  community.    They  had  one  law,  one  holy 


148    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

book,  one  God  of  covenant  promises ;  they  looked  to  one 
spiritual  centre  while  it  stood,  they  had  one  hope  for  the 
future.  In  every  town  where  ten  adults  were  found  was 
a  synagogue,  or  house  of  prayer.  The  synagogue  supported 
Israel  spiritually  and  strengthened  her  socially.  These 
synagogues,  like  the  Christian  churches,  were  united  by 
an  indissoluble  bond  maintained  by  constant  intercourse, 
frequent  letters,  and  travelling  members.  The  Jew,  like 
the  Celt,  was  one  everywhere ;  if  one  Jew,  like  one  Irish- 
man, was  injured,  all  were  injured.  The  terrible  uprisings 
under  Vespasian,  Trajan,  and  Hadrian  bear  ample  testi' 
mony  to  their  power  to  shake  the  Empire. 

Wealth 

Jewish  wealth  was  considerable  if  we  are  to  judge  from 
the  immense  treasures  which  accumulated  in  the  temple. 
The  contributions  were  so  large  that  sometimes  as  many 
as  a  thousand  Jews  were  deputed  to  bring  them  to  Jeru- 
salem. We  have  a  collection  of  Jewish  bank-books  from 
Babylonia  from  about  the  time  of  Xerxes.  It  would 
seem  as  if  they  had  become  bankers  to  their  conquerors. 
Mithridates  appropriated  an  immense  sum,  800  talents, 
from  the  Jewish  treasury  in  Cos.  Cicero  tells  us  of  the 
enormous  contributions  for  the  temple  from  Asia  confis- 
cated by  Flaccus,  62  B.C.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  efifect 
of  these  contributions  on  the  exchange  became  one  cause 
of  anti-Semitism.  Josephus  tells  of  2,700,000  people  as 
present  in  Jerusalem  at  a  festival ;  if  we  make  a  liberal 
deduction  for  the  residents  and  for  exaggeration,  we  have 
an  enormous  number  of  travellers  from  every  quarter  who 
had  money  and  leisure  to  travel.  Many  other  examples 
of  Jewish  wealth  might  be  cited,  as  the  presence  in  the 
principal  synagogue  in  Alexandria  of  seventy-one  golden 
seats.  The  finest  buildings  in  Alexandria  and  Antioch  were 
the    leading    synagogues.     The   corn-export   business   of 


v.]  THE  JEW  149 

Egypt  was  largely  in  Jewish  hands,  as  was  also  the  rich 
traffic  of  Mesopotamia. 

Jews  in  high  position 

Many  Jews  rose  to  positions  of  eminence  and  influence. 
Inscriptions  show  that  the  '  chief  physicians  '  of  the  cities 
of  Ephesus  and  Venosa  were  Jews.  At  the  time  of  the 
Jewish  war  some  Jews  were  Roman  knights.  AHtyrus, 
a  Jewish  actor,  was  in  favour  at  Nero's  court.  In  Egjrpt 
the  Jews  rose  to  the  highest  positions  :  the  position  of 
alabarch  was  frequently  held  by  a  Jew,  as  by  Alexander, 
Philo's  brother.  Several  Jewish  names  are  found  among 
the  tax-collectors  of  the  Thebaid.  Apparently  under  the 
Ptolemies  and  the  Romans  the  Jews  were  entrusted  with 
the  gathering  of  the  Nile  customs.  Ptolemy  Philometor 
is  said  to  have  entrusted  the  administration  of  the  whole 
kingdom  to  Jews,  and  appointed  two  Jewish  generals, 
Onias  and  Dositheus,  over  the  army :  his  daughter, 
Cleopatra  ni.,  also  put  two  Jews,  Chelkias  and  Annanias, 
at  the  head  of  her  army.  The  Jews  were  moreover  suc- 
cessful in  securing  powerful  patrons,  especially  among  the 
Ptolemaic  and  the  Roman  rulers. 

Anti-Semitism 

The  Jews  first  drank  the  cup  of  odium  generis  hum/ini. 
The  outbursts  of  anti-Semitism  in  Greek  communities 
and  in  Greek  and  Roman  writers  are  an  index  of  the  power, 
success,  and  wealth  of  the  Jews.  The  Ionian  cities  com- 
plained before  Agrippa  that,  while  citizens,  the  Jews  did 
not  worship  the  city  gods.  Bloody  anti-Jewish  feuds 
were  often  carried  on  in  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  other 
Greek  cities.  The  petition  of  the  Antiochians  and  Alexan- 
drians after  the  war  of  70  a.d.  to  the  Roman  authorities 
to  deprive  the  Jews  of  citizenship  and  other  privileges 
was  refused.     The  fact  that  the  wealthy  island  of  Rhodes 


150    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

produced  two  anti-Semitic  writers,  Apollonius  Molon  and 
Posidonius,  speaks  for  their  wealth  and  power,  as  does  anti- 
Semitism  in  Germany  at  the  present  time.  A  papyrus 
letter- writer  warns  his  correspondent,  'look  out  for  the 
Jews.'  ^  Many  Roman  writers  speak  disparagingly  of  the 
Jews.  Horace  writes  in  mockery  of  their  circumcision 
^nd  Sabbaths ;  Seneca  calls  them  '  a  most  accursed  race ' ; 
Tacitus  accuses  them  of  hatred  to  all  men,  of  immoraUty, 
of  worshipping  an  ass ;  if  the  4000  sent  by  Claudius  to 
Sardinia  perished  it  would  be  a  vile  damnum.  Petronius 
represents  them  as  worshipping  a  pig.  Cicero,  Quin- 
tilian,  Juvenal,  and  Martial  pour  scorn  upon  them.  The 
fact  that  Roman  writers  are  so  much  more  anti- Jewish 
than  the  Greek  bears  testimony  to  the  increased  prominence 
of  the  Jew.  He  is  only  hated  where  he  is  present  in  force 
and  where  successful.  Finally,  anti-Semitism  found  a  fruit- 
ful soil  in  the  Christian  Church. 


Services  to  the  Ancient  World,  and  Contribution 
TO  THE  Preparation  for  Christianity 

We  come  now  to  chronicle  briefly  what  the  Jews  contri- 
buted to  the  uphfting  of  the  ancient  world  and  to  the 
preparation  for  Christianity. 

Synagogue 

The  synagogue  was  the  focus  of  Judaism,  and  has  re- 
mained such  ;  it  made  Israel  a  spiritual  power  in  the  world. 
Tradition  assigned  its  origin  to  the  earhest  times,  even  to 
the  days  of  Moses.  Its  origin  is  wrapped  in  obscurity ; 
it  seems  to  have  arisen  in  the  needs  of  the  Babylonian 
exile.  Though  there  is  no  mention  of  it  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment or  the  Apocrypha,  we  find  the  institution  of  the 

1  Kal  ai>  ^X^rre  (rarbv  iirb  rQy  'lovSaiiav  ;  Oriech.  Urkunden  (Berlin),  vr. 
No.  1079. 


v.]  THE  JEW  161 

synagogue  everywhere  in  New  Testament  times.  The 
exile  was  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of  Judah  and  of 
the  world.  The  question  at  issue  was  :  Can  the  God  of 
a  Semitic  people  benefit  his  people  in  a  foreign  land  and 
away  from  the  sacrificial  cultus  of  the  temple  ?  Israel 
answered  in  the  affirmative.  If  the  Exile  tore  them  away 
from  their  homes  it  brought  them  nearer  to  their  God. 
The  loss  of  their  ancestral  sanctuary,  the  cessation  of 
sacrifice,  the  need  of  a  bond  of  union  to  maintain  their 
sohdarity  amid  powerful  disintegrating  influences,  the 
possibility  of  a  spiritual  worship,  resulted  in  the  rise  of 
the  synagogue.  The  returning  exiles  estabhshed  the  insti- 
tution in  Palestine  alongside  the  temple  cultus.  The 
synagogue  was  at  once  the  source  of  Israel's  spiritual 
strength,  the  expression  of  her  corporate  life,  the  guardian 
of  her  traditions  and  revelation,  and  the  point  d'appui  for 
her  eminently  successful  propaganda.  The  synagogue  be- 
came to  each  town  what  Judaea  was  to  the  world.  It  was 
to  the  heathen  a  school  of  morals  and  rehgion  ;  it  became 
the  cradle  of  Christianity.  As  the  temple  service  passed 
more  definitely  under  control  of  the  aristocracy,  the  syna- 
gogue grew  in  influence  with  the  masses ;  it  jwas  the 
meeting-place  of  the  people  with  their  religious  teachers. 
There  they  heard  the  Law  and  the  Prophets ;  there  the 
Hope  of  Israel  was  kept  green.  'V^Tien  the  temple  was 
finally  destroyed,  the  s5rnagogue  became  all  in  all  to 
Israel.  Wherever  ten  adult  males  were  found  in  a  town 
a  synagogue  was  formed.  In  the  time  of  Augustus  there 
were  many  synagogues  in  Rome.  In  Antioch  and  Alex- 
andria the  two  leading  synagogues  were  among  the  grand- 
eslf'buildings  in  the  city,  and  in  each  of  these  cities  there 
were  many  others.  At  the  time  of  the  Jewish  war  the 
number  of  synagogues  in  Jerusalem  is  estimated  at  394 
or  480.  In  the  New  Testament  we  read  of  synagogues 
in  GaUlee,  Judaea,  Asia  Minor,  Macedonia  and  Greece. 
Inscriptions  and  ruins  testify  further  to  this  widespread 


152    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

institution.  In  Acts  xv.  21  James  speaks  of  synagogues 
'  in  every  city.'  The  Jew,  like  the  modem  Roman  Catholic, 
tried  where  possible  to  rear  his  reUgious  edifice  on  the 
most  conspicuous  piece  of  ground  in  the  city.  A  Midrash 
declares  that  in  early  times  the  synagogue  was  built  on 
'  the  height  of  the  city,'  and  a  third  -  century  teacher 
declares  the  city  whose  roofs  overtop  the  synagogue  to 
be  given  over  to  destruction.  Sometimes  the  synagogue 
was  situated  outside  the  city,  by  a  river  or  by  the  sea.  The 
serviceswere  simple  but  impressive;  they  consisted  regularly 
of  the  Shema,  congregational  prayer,  and  the  reading  of  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets,  usually  followed  by  a  sermon  and 
the  benediction.  They  were  held  every  Sabbath  and  on  fast 
days  :  wherever  ten  men  of  leisure  were  found  there  was 
a  daily  service.  Women  were  regular  attendants  at  the 
services.  The  constant  reading  of  the  moral  law  and  the 
spirituality  of  the  prophets  could  not  be  in  vain  ;  not  only 
Jews  but  many  earnest  heathen  were  influenced.  The 
importance  attached  to  prayer  was  a  great  attraction  for 
an  age  seeking  support. 

SchooU 

Inseparably  connected  with  the  synagogue  were  the 
school  and  library.'  As  in  Roman  Catholicism  church 
and  school  are  united,  and  the  latter  is  a  support  and  means 
of  feeding  the  former,  so  it  was  in  Judaism.  The  synagogue 
was  primarily  a  teaching  institution :  school  and  syna- 
gogue are  thus  often  mentioned  together.  The  Jews  were 
foremost  in  recognising  the  importance  of  early  education. 
Philo  says  that  in  every  city  were  StSao-zcaActa,  schools  to 
teach  reHgion  and  virtue.  Thus  the  Jews  were  the  first 
Sabbath-school  teachers.  We  may  reasonably  conjecture 
that  these  schools  proved  to  many  children  the  gate  to 

1  In  Safed  and  Tiberias — and  probably  elsewhere — at  the  present  day  the 
synagogue  is  the  Jews'  reading-room. 


T.]  THE  JEW  153 

the  synagogue,  attracting  more  than  Jewish  children. 
The  analogy  of  the  school  system  in  modem  missions 
as  a  feeder  to  the  Christian  Church  strengthens  the 
probability. 


Successful  Propaganda 

It  was  around  the  synagogue  that  the  Jews  carried  on 
their  proselytising  work.  They  were  the  first  missionaries 
and  preachers.  Believing  that  in  Abraham  and  his  seed 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed,  that  the 
God  of  Israel  should  be  called  the  God  of  the  whole  earth, 
that  Israel  should  have  a  premier  place  as  the  medium  of 
better  things  for  the  race,  Israel  was  more  or  less  con- 
scientious in  the  fulfilment  of  her  mission.  The  influence 
of  the  synagogue  was  not  in  vain.  The  enormous  numbers 
of  Jews  in  the  Empire  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  natural 
increase  ;  conversions  to  Judaism  were  frequent  till  about 
the  time  oTthe  edict  of  Pius  forbidding  the  circumcision 
of  proselytes.  Apart  from  conversions,  the  influence 
upon  heathen  who  refused  to  take  the  decisive  step  was 
very  great.  Who  may  venture  to  estimate  the  effect  of  the 
Sabbath  sermons  and  the  reading  of  a  holy  book  upon 
earnest  hearers  ?  In  the  synagogue  was  proclaimed  a 
lofty  spiritual  monotheism  to  which  Greek  thought  was 
tending.  God  was  not  only  One,  but  He  was  just  to  mark 
and  punish  iniquity,  yet  He  was  a  Father  with  whom  there 
was  mercy  for  the  penitent.  Israel  made  the  largest 
contribution  toward  that  union  of  moraUty  and  rehgion 
which  was  consummated  in  Christianity.  However  hated 
and  despised  the  Jew  was,  no  serious  heathen  could  be 
indifferent  to  the  attraction  of  a  moral  life.  We  can 
scarcely  imagine  how  refreshing  these  services  of  prayer 
and  exhortation  must  have  been  to  heathen  who  lived  in 
a  world  that  felt  the  burden  of  age  and  on  whom  were  set- 
thng  an  ennui  and  a  weariness,  whose  golden  age  lay  behind 


154    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

them.  They  came  into  contact  with  a  people  who  were 
continually  renewing  their  youth,  and  whose  golden  age  and 
brightest  hope  lay  in  the  future.  In  an  age  when  Oriental 
and  Western  religions  were  trying  to  purify  themselves  from 
the  remnants  of  naturahsm  and  making  gross  and  vulgar 
things  symbols  of  higher  truth,  a  people  was  to  be  found 
whose  symbols  were  of  the  simplest  kind  and  yet  more 
pregnant  with  spiritual  truth  than  those  of  any  rivals.  In 
an  age  when  '  man's  unconquerable  mind '  had  in  Greece 
been  overtaken  with  lassitude  and  began  to  demand  a 
criterion  for  truth,  a  sure  guide  in  morals  and  an  authority 
for  man's  spirit,  this  was  a  people  who  oiffered  the  authority 
of  a  holy  book  containing  what  was  then  the  fullest  revela- 
tion. Amid  the  isolation  of  individualism  the  synagogue 
offered  the  communion  of  saints.  Merivale  asserts  that 
the  Jew  taught  the  ancient  world  to  pray,  and  in  this  way 
hastened  the  conversion  of  the  Empire.  The  Jew  through 
the  synagogue  taught  the  heathen  to  pray  both  by  example 
and  precept :  the  persistent  heroic  example  in  grayer  of 
a  people  conspicuous  in  so  many  ways  proved  an  untold 
blessing.  In  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth,  and  in  the  God- 
fearing home  fostered  by  the  ideals  of  the  synagogue.  He 
who  taught  us  to  pray  learned  to  pray.  The  synagogue 
taught  the  Christian  Church  the  power  and  example  of 
prayer.  In  our  reUgion  we  are  almost  wholly  Jews,  but 
at  no  time  are  we  more  Jews  than  when  we  approach  the 
Mercy  Seat. 

It  is  universally  acknowledged  that  Judaism  owes  part 
of  its  numbers  to  conversions  from  heathenism.  It  may 
be  asked  how  a  people  so  despised  and  hated,  and  so 
exclusive,  could  have  carried  on  a  successful  propaganda 
and  become  the  first  great  missionary  people.  There 
were,  and  still  are,  in  Judaism  two  opposite  tendencies — 
an  expansive  and  an  exclusive.  The  latter  is  largely 
Palestinian,  the  former  of  the  Diaspora.  The  influence  of 
Deutero-Isaiah  and  the  great  prophets,  together  with  the 


T.]  THE  JEW  156 

experiences  of  the  Exile  and  the  Diaspora,  gave  the  upper 
hand  to  universalism.  As  Israel  recognised  only  one  God 
He  must  also  be  the  God  of  the  whole  world,  and  she 
recognised  her  mission  as  '  leaders  of  Ufe  to  all.*  The 
legislation  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  opened  the  way  for  the 
incorporation  of  men  of  other  races. 

We  have  abundant  evidence  that  this  exclusive  people 
were  most  successful  missionaries.  Schiirer  ^  attributes 
the  success  of  their  propaganda  to  three  causes :  (1) 
Judaism  presented  its  best  aspect  to  the  pagan  world. 
They  dropped  all  that  might  be  offensive,  or  threw  into  the 
background  what  was  unimportant  or  exclusive ;  they 
laid  the  emphasis  on  what  was  calculated  to  receive  a 
sympathetic  hearing,  such  as  their  lofty  idea  of  God  and 
the  authority  of  a  religion  of  revelation.  (2)  Their  practical 
aim  after  a  moral  and  happy  life.  (3)  The  trend  of  the  age 
was  toward  Oriental  reHgions  which  offered  three  attrac- 
tions :  (a)  a  monotheistic  tendency,  (6)  a  practical  purpose 
in  offering  remission  of  sin  and  moral  cleansing  (often  formal 
and  external),  (c)  the  promise  of  a  happy  Hfe  beyond.  In 
all  these  points  Judaism  far  excelled  all  its  Oriental  com- 
petitors. All  were  missionary  religions  and  seized  of  an 
enthusiasm  to  produce  converts.  The  Judaism  of  the 
Diaspora  regarded  it  as  its  bounden  duty  to  be  a  Ught  to 
the  heathen.  They  not  only  laboured  among  the  masses, 
but  estabUshed  a  literature,  especially  in  Alexandria,  to 
commend  their  faith  to  the  cultured.  They  manipulated 
the  SibyUine  Oracles  to  acquaint  the  Greek  world  with 
the  hopes  of  Israel. 

They  laboured  with  extraordinary  success.  Josephus 
boasts,  '  Many  of  the  heathen  have  come  over  to  our  law ; 
some  have  remained,  others  unable  to  tolerate  its  strict- 
ness have  fallen  off,'  and  'among  the  masses  there  has  long 
been  a  great  zeal  for  our  mode  of  worship  ;  there  is  no 
Greek  nor  barbarian  city  nor  any  nation  in  which  our 
1  iii.  p.  155  ff. 


156    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

custom  of  keeping  the  Sabbath,  fasting,  the  lighting  of 
lamps,  and  many  regulations  in  regard  to  food,  are  not 
observed.'  Horace  and  Juvenal  testify  to  the  prevalence 
of  Jewish  customs  among  the  Romans.  Dio  Cassius  speaks 
of  the  zeal  of  people  of  other  races  for  Jewish  customs. 
Josephus  says  that  a  great  multitude  of  Greeks  had  been 
received,  and  made  as  it  were  part  of  the  Jews  in  the 
Syrian  Antioch.  Seneca  declares  that  this  accursed  race, 
*  though  conquered,  have  given  laws  to  their  conquerors.' 
Paul,  on  his  preaching  tours,  found  the  sjrnagogue  attend- 
ance composed  of  Jews  and  God-fearing  heathen.  Women 
were  particularly  attracted  by  Judaism  ;  it  was  easier 
for  them  to  become  converts,  and  women  are  more  sensitive 
to  the  emotional  element  in  religion.  Sometimes  influential 
converts  were  secured,  like  the  prime  minister  of  Queen 
Candace,  or  a  lady  of  rank  like  Fulvia,  or  Poppaea,  the 
mistress  of  Nero,  or  Izates  and  the  royal  house  of  Adiabene. 
Sometimes  the  Jews  forcibly  proselytised,  as  when  Hyrcanus 
compelled  the  Idumaeans,  and  Aristobulus  the  Ituraeans 
(or  people  of  Gahlee),  to  become  Jews. 

Proselytes 

There  were  many  degrees  among  those  influenced  by 
Judaism,  from  the  proselyte  who  became  a  full  Jew,  to  all 
the  different  grades  of  the  '  God-fearers '  attached  to  the 
synagogue. 

There  was  only  one  class  of  regular  proselytes,  those  who 
broke  entirely  with  their  heathen  past,  accepted  circum- 
cision and  a  purificatory  bath,  and  made  an  offering  to 
the  temple.  Such  were  counted  as  full  members  of  the 
Jewish  community,  and  were  debtors  to  do  the  whole  law 
(Gal.  v.  3).  These  converts  were  more  zealous  Jews  than 
the  Jews  by  race,^  and  were  comparatively  few  in  number. 

1  *  Prosely tism  was  a  sort  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  conquerors,  not  of  the  conquered,  and  it  is  fair  to  aay  that  the  Jewish 


v.]  THE  JEW  li7 

*  God-fearers ' 

The  most  direct  way  in  which  the  synagogue  prepared 
a  people  for  the  Lord  was  as  teacher  of  the  numerous 
God-fearing  ^  heathen.  Vast  numbers  of  interested 
inquirers  came  to  Judaism.  Many  heathen,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  prevalent  syncretism,  were  wiUing  to 
make  experiments  among  the  competing  reUgions,  and 
when  Judaism  was  once  tried  it  retained  those  who  were 
in  earnest.  They  found  a  fellowship  of  kindred  spirits, 
and  were  strengthened  by  prayer,  by  regular  divine 
services  with  their  aesthetic  power,  and  by  stimulating 
sermons  urging  men  to  live  a  moral  life,  promising  a  better 
social  era  under  a  Messiah,  and  holding  out  the  hope  of 
immortahty.  No  serious  heathen  could  be  indifferent 
to  a  rehgion  the  lives  of  whose  adherents  commended 
their  creed  as  much  (or  as  little)  as  Christian  Uves  com- 
mend our  faith.  Besides,  no  rival  faith  could  so  fully 
satisfy  the  general  demand  for  redemptive  or  salvation 
religions.  The  Jew  occupied  a  unique  position  as  regards 
that  which  all  men  were  seeking.  Many  inquirers  were 
not  persuaded  of  the  necessity  of  giving  up  other  cults, 
or  were  deterred  from  becoming  Jews  by  the  odium  attach- 
ing to  the  race,  by  social  or  poUtical  considerations,  or  per- 
haps because  they  disUked  the  unique  racial  privileges 
claimed  by  the  Jew.  The  Jews  in  their  missionary  zeal, 
and  from  a  desire  to  strengthen  their  position,  encouraged 
the  approach  of  all  serious  heathen.    If  these  heathen 

proselyte  did  not  form  a  link  between  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  but 
emphasised  and  widened  the  difference.  Nor  did  the  proselyte  prepare  the 
way  for  Christianity.'— Art.  *  Proselyte'  in  Hastings'  D.B. 

1  Some  identify  the  *  God-fearing '  with  the  proselytes,  but  with  less  justifi- 
cation. When  Paul  decided  to  turn  to  the  Gentiles  he  went  to  the  house  of 
Titius  Justus,  one  of  the  ae^oixevoi.  who  was  not  a  Jew,  as  he  would  have 
been  if  he  had  been  circumcised.  As  there  was  a  time  when  the  term  '  God- 
fearing' was  applied  to  the  pious  Israelite,  it  was  in  all  probability  later 
applied  to  proselytes,  and  finally  in  the  Greek  period  the  term  was  used  to 
designate  the  pious  heathen  who  found  consolation  in  the  ministrations  of 
the  synagogue.     Their  vastly  increasing  numbers  called  for  a  designation. 


158    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

were  unwilling  to  submit  to  circumcision  and  keep  the 
whole  law  they  accepted  the  Jewish  method  of  worshipping 
God  as  One,  and  without  images ;  they  observed  the  Sab- 
bath and  festivals,  accepted  baptism,  and  observed  certain 
regulations  about  food.  Some  even  went  to  Jerusalem 
to  worship  (John  xii.  20).  Paul  found  these  God-fearing 
heathen  in  all  the  synagogues.  These,  of  whom  Israel 
was  tutor,  were  the  first  to  accept  a  gospel  in  which  there 
was  no  racial  privilege.  When  a  Christian  ecclesia  was 
formed  beside  the  synagogue,  these  heathen  flocked  to  it, 
not  only  because  it  was  t^e  latest  reUgious  association, 
but  because  it  proclaimed  a  larger  message  than  could  be 
heard  in  the  synagogue. 

The  Greek  Bible 

The  Septuagint  version  of  the  Old  Testament  is,  next 
to  the  New  Testament,  the  most  world-historic  book. 
We  are  not  here  concerned  with  its  scientific  value  for 
philology  and  its  importance  for  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
Old  Testament  and  the  Greek  New  Testament,  nor  with 
the  legends  of  its  origin.  Three  theories  are  put  forward 
to  account  for  its  origin  :  (1)  the  command  of  the  bibfio- 
phile  and  philo-Judaic  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who  sent  to 
Jerusalem  for  a  Hebrew  version  (of  the  Law)  and  scholars 
to  translate  it,  wishing  perhaps  to  have  the  Law,  by  which 
the  Jews  were  judged,  in  a  Greek  version ;  (2)  the  needs 
of  the  Diaspora  Jewish  communities,  the  language  of  whose 
synagogue  was  Greek ;  (3)  the  desire  to  have  Greek 
scriptures  for  purposes  of  prosel3rtising  and  for  theological 
discussion.  All  three  reasons  doubtless  contributed.  The 
Law  was  first  translated  before  the  middle  of  the  third 
century  B.C.,  and  the  whole  Bible  was  finished,  at  the 
latest,  in  the  second  half  of  the  second  century  B.C. 

For  our  purpose  it  is  enough  to  notice  three  important 
services  rendered  by  this  version :   (1)  It  was  an  inestimable 


v.]  THE  JEW  159 

boon  to  the  Greek-speaking  Diaspora  to  have  a  version 
of  their  Bible  in  a  language  '  understanded  of  the  people.* 
The  LXX  did  for  the  religious  hfe  of  the  Diaspora  what 
tlie  Authorised  Version  did  for  Britain  and  America, 
and  what  that  of  Luther  did  for  Germany.  It  became 
the  Bible  of  Hellenistic  Judaism  in  Asia  and  in  Europe, 
and  a  unique  bond  of  cohesion.^  The  LXX  nourished  the 
democratic  spirit  of  piety  of  the  synagogue,  and  prevented 
reHgion  from  becoming  wholly  dependent  on  a  priesthood 
having  the  monopoly  of  a  dead  holy  tongue.  This  version 
was  also  the  necessary  counterpoise  to  the  disintegrating 
forces  of  Hellenism.  (2)  The  LXX  became  to  the  Jew  a 
powerful  missionary  organ,  and  to  Hellenistic  heathenism 
a  religious  authority  at  a  time  when  Greek  thought  was 
veering  toward  the  necessity  of  a  Revelation.  Such 
translations  were  not  in  vogue  in  antiquity,  particularly 
in  the  rich  Greek  language  :  the  appearance  of  the  LXX 
in  the  meeting-place  of  East  and  West,  in  the  language 
of  the  mediating  Judaeo-Hellenistic  philosophy,  could 
not  fail  to  attract  wide  attention.  The  hosts  of  '  God- 
fearing '  heathen  heard  in  Greek  a  message  of  salvation, 
and  many  heathen  making  trial  of  different  mysteries  and 
looking  for  some  '  strong  boat,'  or  '  sure  word  of  God,'  in 
oracles  or  in  Oriental  reUgions,  discovered  in  the  LXX 
what  claimed  to  be  an  authoritative  God-inspired  guide. 
Philo  tells  us  that  the  translators  before  commencing  work 
prayed  to  God  for  help,  and  '  He  heard  their  prayers  that 
the  majority,  or  rather  the  whole  human  race,  might  be 
benefited  by  giving  heed  for  reformation  of  Hfe  to  wise 
and  noble  ordinances.'  History  has  given  the  verdict 
that  their  prayer  was  answered.  (3)  The  LXX  became  the 
first,  and  for  a  considerable  time  the  only,_Bible  of  early 
Christianity,  and  a  potent  ally  of  the  Gospel.^    It  was  the 

'  1  The  LXX  *  kept  millions  in  the  old  faith,  to  win  fresh  milliong  for  whom 
the  Hebrew  teit  would  hare  remained  a  buried  treasure.' — Hausrath. 

*  'Greek  Judaism  with  the  Septuagint  had  ploughed  the  furrows  for  the 
gospel  seed  in  the  western  world.'— Deissmann,  New  Light  on  N.  T.,  p.  95. 


160    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Bible  of  Paul  and  Luke  and  the  early  missionaries  who 
carried  Christ's  evangel  to  *  all  the  world.'  It  was,  next 
to  the  words  of  Jesus,  their  only  recognised  authority. 
Before  Christian  writings  were  made,  preachers  had  already 
a  Bible  to  hand.  From  it  they  culled  their  Messianic  texts, 
and  by  it  proved  Jesus  to  be  the  promised  Messiah.  The 
LXX  furnished  them  with  a  ready-made  vocabulary  and 
terminology,  with  forms  of  prayer  and  praise,  with  many 
terms  which  were  as  yet  hke  empty  vessels  waiting  to  be 
filled  with  the  new  meaning  of  a  fuller  Revelation.^  This 
LXX  proved  so  useful  to  the  Christians,  that  the  Jews  by 
the  time  of  Jerome  repudiated  it  as  inferior  to  the  'Hebrew 
verity,'  thus  vindicating  the  Rabbinic  description  of  the 
day  on  which  the  Law  was  translated  as  a  '  feast  of  dark- 
ness,' a  calamity  Mike  the  day  on  which  the  golden  calf 
was  made.'  Finally,  the  LXX  helped  to  suggest  to  the 
Christian  Church  the  formation  of  a  Christian  canon  to 
be  used  alongside  the  LXX.  As  we  study  our  New 
Testament  we  may  gratefully  remember  the  earnest  effort 
of  the  Jew  to  procure  a  lamp  for  his  feet  and  a  light  for 
his  path. 

Message  of  Israel 

Thus  Israel  prepared  the  way  for,  and  contributed  to 
the  estabhshment  and  organisation  of,  Christianity. ^  Her 
message,  hke  her  own  character,  may  have  been  one-sided 

1  *  It  created  a  language  of  religion  which  lent  itself  easily  to  the  service 
of  Christianity,  and  became  one  of  the  most  important  allies  of  the  gospel.' 

Hastings'  D.B.,  iv.  i'6'!b. 

3  *To  the  Jewish  mission  which  preceded  it  the  Christian  mission  was 
indebted,  in  the  first  place,  for  a  field  tilled  all  over  the  Empire ;  in  the 
second  place,  for  religious  communities  already  formed  everywhere  in  the 
towns ,:  thirdly,  for  what  Aienfeld  calls  '  the  help  of  materials '  furnished  by 
the  preliminary  knowledge  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  addition  to  catechetical 
and  liturgical  materials  which  could  be  employed  without  much  alteration ; 
fourthly,  for  the  habit  of  regular  worship  and  the  control  of  private  life ; 
fifthly,  for  an  impressive  apologetic  on  behalf  of  monotheism,  historical  teleo- 
logy, and  ethics  ;  and  finally,  for  the  feeling  that  self-diffusion  was  a  duty.  The 
amount  of  this  debt  is  so  large  that  one  might  venture  to  claim  the  Christian 
mission  as  a  continuation  of  the  Jewish  propaganda.' — Harnack,  Mission^ 
i.  15. 


v.]  THE  JEW  161 

and  partial,  but  it  was  the  necessary  complement  to  the 
labours  of  the  other  peoples.  Israel  held  a  premier  place 
in  all  that  pertained  to  the  higher  spiritual  hfe  of  man. 
She  herself  cared  Uttle  for  culture,  but  she  produced  that 
which  has  produced  the  best  modem  culture.  Before 
the  appearance  of  Christianity,  Israel  carried  on  a  preach- 
ing activity  which  elevated  her  own  life  and  leavened 
heathenism.  She  brought  earnest  heathen  to  the  very 
threshold  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  She  heralded  the 
most  perfect  salvation  offered  to  the  old  world.  Her 
conception  of  God,  though  far  short  of  the  Christian,  was 
a  worthy  and  attractive  one  :  He  w^as  a  personal  self- 
revealing  God,  even  a  Father,  a  God  of  strict  justice,  yet 
willing  to  receive  and  pardon  the  penitent.  Israel  declared 
that  God's  righteousness  demands  moral  living  on  the 
part  of  man  :  religion  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  morahty. 
She  taught  men  to  pray.  She  gave  new  youth  to  a  weary 
world  :  having  suffered  herself,  she  taught  men  the  mean- 
ing of  suffering.  She  spoke  of  hope,  looking  for  a  kingdom 
of  righteousness  upon  earth  and  a  Messiah  from  Heaven 
to  reign  among  men.  In  an  age  seeking  consolations,  no 
reHgion  could  compete  with  Israel's  :  even  we  ourselves 
in  adversity  become  Jews  that  we  may  share  in  Jewish 
consolations.    • 

Pathfinder  for  Christianity 

In  many  respects  Israel  was  the  pathfinder  for  the 
senior  of  her  daughter  religions.  She  put  into  the  hands 
of  Christianity  a  holy  book  with  the  dogma  of  inspiration, 
the  receptacle  of  an  aiithoritative  Revelation.  She  taught 
Christians  the  practice  and  much  of  the  forms  of  prayer. 
She  imparted  to  them  her  own  steadfastness  of  character 
and  her  zeal  to  please  God  with  an  upright  life.  She 
bequeathed  to  the  Church  her  missionary  zeal  and 
enthusiasm,  her  expectancy  of  a  brighter  future,  her 
p3i§sion  for  monotheism.     Many  of  the  weapons  employed 


162    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

by  Christianity  against  Jew  and  heathen  were  appropriated 
from  the  armory  of  Judaism.  The  Jewish  canon  was  the 
forerunner  of  a  Christian  canon.  The  Christian  Church 
took  over  not  only  the  entire  Jewish  Bible  and  doctrine 
of  inspiration,  but  also  Jewish  methods  of  handling 
scripture  such  as  the  citing  of  proof-texts,  the  use 
of  allegory  in  one  place  and  the  strictest  literaUsm 
in  another.  From  Judaism  Christianity  borrowed  that 
intolerance  which  was  at  first  necessary  to  preserve 
her  integrity.  It  was  from  Judaism  that  Christi- 
anity caught  the  idea  of  writing  apologies  and  pseu- 
donymous books  in  the  intefests  of  faith.  Heathenism 
was  never  until  its  dying  years  laid  hold  of  by  the 
missionary  idea.  It  was  the  Jew  who  discovered 
the  plan  of  voicing  his  protests  and  dissatisfaction  with 
the  present  under  assumed  names  from  heathen  or  Jewish 
history.  Christianity  found  Jewish  apocalypses  in  such 
a  shape,  that  by  changing  the  wording  slightly,  or  inter- 
polating a  paragraph  here  and  there,  she  had  ready- 
made  Christian  apocalypses. 

Judaism  furnished  the  Christian  Church  with  many  useful 
hints  toward  the  establishment  of  that  compact  ecclesi- 
astical organisation  which  defied  Rome.  She  taught  the 
Church  the  necessity  of  a  spirit  of  universal  brotherhood 
and  co-operation,  whereby  the  strong  were  to  help  the 
weak,  and  the  communities  were  kept  in  close  contact 
with  each  other. 

Early  Christianity  benefited  by  the  most  staggering 
calamity  that  ever  befell  the  Jews — the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  This  put  an  end  to  Jerusalem  with  its  temple 
cult  as  the  rehgious  centre  of  Judaism ;  it  subverted  the 
hopes  of  Jews  who  were  looking  for  a  restoration  and 
hurried  them  over  into  Christianity.  Jerusalem  could  not 
now  become  the  centre  of  Christianity,  a  fact  which,  if 
reaHsed,  would  have  given  the  predominance  to  a  narrow 
Palestinian  Christianity ;   the  fall  of  Jerusalem  weakened 


v.j  THE  JEW  163 

the  hands  of  the  Judaisers  as  it  strengthened  the  Gentile 
Christian  section. 

Lastly,  the  Jew  of  the  Diaspora  served  as  mediator 
between  East  and  West :  he  was  Oriental  in  his  rehgion 
and  Western  in  his  culture,  philosophy,  language  and  enter- 
prise. Through  him  an  Oriental  reHgion  conquered  the 
West. 

Such  are  some  of  the  leading  characteristics  and  services 
of  a  race  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  been 
blest,  'whose  is  the  Sonship  and  the  Glory  and  the  Covenants 
and  the  giving  of  the  Law  and  the  Service  of  God  and  the 
Promises,  whose  are  the  Fathers,  from  whom,  in  respect 
of  his  human  descent,  comes  the  Christ  who  is  exalted 
above  ail,  God  blessed  throughout  the  ages.' 


164    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 


CHAPTER  Yl 

THE  GREEK 

'Kffav  Sk  'E\\r)vis  rivcj  e/c  tuv  dva^aivovrcov  'iva  irpoaKW-qaiaffLV  iv  tj7 
iopry'odTOi  .   .   .  ripibriov  .   .   .   Kvpte,  diXofiev  top  'Itjo-oOv  Ideiy. 

As  the  Hebrews  in  alliance  with  the  Orientals  exercised 
the  religious  hegemony,  and  the  Romans  the  poHtical,  so 
the  Greeks  were  unchallenged  in  their  intellectual  supre- 
macy. The  world  that  most  eagerly  accepted  the  Gospel 
had  a  Greek  education.  It  is  important  to  know  the 
character  and  genius  of  the  people  in  whose  language 
Christianity  has  been  transmitted  to  us,  who  were  its 
first  metaphysicians  and  philosophers,  who  later  waked 
Christian  Europe  from  barbarism,  and  who  have  not  yet 
come  to  their  own  among  us. 

The  Greeks  are  the  most  interesting  and  human  of  ancient 
peoples.  Their  environment  was  quite  different  from  that 
of  the  Hebrew.  Their  fatherland  was  beautiful  and  varied 
as  their  own  matchless  genius.  Bright  sky,  pellucid  air, 
mountain  ranges  and  passes,  innumerable  bays  and  fiords, 
island-studded  seas — everything  the  Greek  looked  upon 
was  beautiful.  Yet  the  Greek  was  never  as  susceptible 
to  the  beauty  of  a  landscape  as  the  Roman ;  his  beauty 
was  that  of  form,  harmony,  and  proportion.  Aristotle 
characteristically  finds  the  truest  beauty  in  mathematics. 

Greek  Character 

Greek  character  is  more  variegated  and  many-sided  than 
either  Hebrew  or  Roman :  there  are  more  numerous  elements 


VL]  THE  GREEK  166 

in  its  composition.  No  nation  had  such  a  passion  for  the 
beautiful,  which  was  the  form  in  which  they  worshipped 
goodness.  Their  word  koAov  means  both  beautiful  and  good. 
The  Greek  was  enamoured  of  material  beauty.  He  loved 
this  world  and  all  its  rational  activities,  and  looked  naturally 
on  the  brighter  side  of  things ;  death,  that  called  him 
away  from  the  joyousness  of  life,  was  a  dread  evil.^  The 
Greek  was  keenly  sensitive  to  the  joys  of  hfe.  They 
represent  more  than  any  other  people  the  youth  of  the 
world,  hence  succeeding  ages  of  aegri  mortales  have  gone 
back  to  Greece  to  re-hve  their  youth.  Plato  makes  an 
Egyptian  say,  '  No  Hellene  is  ever  old ;  in  mind  you  are  all 
young.*  The  spirit  of  Greece  was  '  youth,  I  do  adore 
thee,'  and  no  hterature  contains  sadder  laments  over 
vanished  youth.  They  were  an  active  folk,  loving  athletics, 
lively  and  excitable,  energetic  and  restless,  early  seized 
by  the  Wanderlust.  Their  history  is  full  of  revolutions. 
They  were  liable  to  fits  of  popular  emotion :  they  could 
sentence  the  male  population  of  an  island  to  death,  and 
immediately,  overcome  with  remorse,  rescind  the  decision  ; 
they  could  condemn  a  Socrates  and  repent  too  late.  Herein 
they  were  unUke  the  Romans,  who  never  repented  of  an 
unrighteous  national  act.  In  proportion  to  his  keen 
sensitiveness  to  joy  the  Greek  was  readily  overtaken  by 
melancholy,  which  later  deepened  into  pessimism.  No 
other  hterature  contains  such  eloquent  laments  over  the 
misery  of  our  mortal  lot,  the  brevity  of  life,  the  caprice 
of  fortune,  the  ruthlessness  of  death.  Over  all  Greek 
happiness  hangs  a  Damocles'  sword.  The  Greek  was 
actuated  by  unbounded  aspirations,  he  was  conscious  of 
the  possession  of  powers  for  the  full  fruition  of  which  hfe 
refused    sufficient    scope.     As    the    element    of    trouble 

1  Cf.  Matthew  Arnold  on  the  death  of  Sohrab : 

*  and  from  his  limbs 
Unwillingly  the  spirit  fled  away, 
Regretting  the  warm  mansion  which  it  left, 
And  youth  and  bloom  and  this  delightful  world.' 


166    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

increased  in  his  chequered  history  his  melancholy  grows 
more  oppressive,  until  in  the  Anthology  death  is  better 
than  hfe.  Here  we  must  note  a  peculiar  trait  of  Greek 
character  :  his  abiding  sense  of  the  frailty  of  man,  and  the 
presence  of  death,  snatching  away  love  and  joy  and  ambition, 
never  unmanned  him  or  impaired  his  energy  ;  these  things 
rather  stimulated  him  to  high  endeavour,  to  turn  hfe  to 
most  account  as  his  only  portion,  to  do  something  to  be 
remembered.  For  the  Greek  loved  praise,  '  that  last 
infirmity  of  noble  minds.'     For  him 

*  Fame  is  the  spur  that  the  clear  spirit  doth  raise 
To  scorn  delights  and  live  laborious  days.' 

To  win  the  crown  of  parsley  and  have  his  name  inscribed 
in  marble  was  to  the  Greek  what  a  consulship  was  to  the 
Roman.  The  Greek  aimed  at  self-culture  as  the  Hebrew 
at  self-repression ;  his  character  is  more  rounded  and 
complete  than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  He 
beUeved  in  the  development  of  the  whole  man,  the  pursuit 
of  everything  that  is  '  proper  to  man  '  : 

*  Hellas  the  nurse  of  man  complete  as  man.' 

Moderation  is  a  prominent  trait  of  the  Greeks ;  they  are 
distinguished  by  a  serenity  and  urbanity,  the  acme  of 
culture.  The  Greeks  were  intensely  social.  Perhaps 
friendship  was  more  prominent  among  the  Romans,  but 
comradeship  and  esprit  de  corps  were  more  prevalent  with 
the  Greeks.  They  hked  the  company  of  their  fellow- 
citizens,  gossiping  in  the  theatre  and  the  market,  and  using 
their  homes  only  for  shelter  at  night.  What 's  the  news  ? 
was  their  regular  expression :  they  were  always  seeking 
some  new  thing.  They  were  city-dwellers,  not  farmers 
nor  shepherds.  A  Greek  would  pine  in  a  lonely  hfe ;  his 
wits  were  sharpened  in  lively  intercourse  with  his  fellows. 
Greece  was  the  cradle  of  liberty  and  autonomy  ;  they  were 
the  first  people  who  believed  in  home  rule.     They  strove 


VL]  THE  GREEK  167 

to  erect  a  political  system  based  on  rational  freedom.^ 
The  Orientals  bowed  low  before  an  authority  the  wisdom, 
origin,  or  reason  of  which  they  did  not  question :  the 
Greeks  could  do  nothing  without  questioning.  Authority 
must  justify  itself  to  reason  ;  law  is  only  written  reason. 
The  bickerings  of  Greek  history  were  the  price  the  Greeks 
had  to  pay  for  their  wholly  new  experiment  of  self-govern- 
ment with  its  conflicting  theories,  for  liberty  regulated 
by  law. 

Greek  Genius 

The  first  trait  of  Greek  genius  is  its  striking  originaHty.^ 
They  were  fearless  mariners  on  the  hitherto  uncharted 
ocean  of  thought :  '  they  were  the  first  that  ever  burst 
into  that  silent  sea.'  They  had  no  bibhography.  If  they 
borrowed  anything  from  Oriental  neighbours  they  so 
thoroughly  assimilated  it  that  it  became  genuinely  Greek. 
A  patchwork  system  such  as  might  please  the  mosaic 
genius  of  Rome  would  have  been  an  abomination  to  them. 
The  Greeks  invented  instruments  of  precise  thinking,  and 
set  themselves  the  task  of  reducing  chaotic  thought  to 
a  system.  They  discovered  terms  to  use  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  truth,  and  then  formulae  to  hold  the  truths  attained. 
They  were  original  in  their  way  of  thinking,  in  the  results 
they  secured,  and  in  the  way  in  which  they  stated  them. 
They  were  the  first  to  trust  themselves  implicitly  to 
thought,  to  ask  the  Why  of  things,  and  to  dare  to  doubt. 
The  Greek  mind  was  rationalistic.  They  not  only  dared  to 
ask  questions  and  doubt,  but  believed  they  ought  to  find 
an  explanation.  They  were  not  endowed  with  unques- 
tioning faith  and  meek  submission  to  authority  :  they 
were  not  reverential.  There  was  no  holy  of  hohes 
into  which  man  endowed  with  reason  was  forbidden  to 

1  Avoiding  the  rudeness  of  the  tribal  system  on  one  hand,  and  despotism 
on  the  other. 

2  Cf.  Odys. ,  ixii.  347,  aifrodiSaKTos  5"  elui,  debs  54  fioi  iv  4>p€alv  olfias  \ 
iravTolai  ev4<pv<rev. 


168    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

penetrate.  Knowledge  was  laic  and  not  the  monopoly  of 
a  priesthood.  Neither  was  theirs  the  Supreme  Creator 
who  simply  appointed  things  as  they  are  for  man,  but  not 
for  man  to  ask  questions  about  or  explain.  They  could 
not,  like  the  Hebrews  or  the  modem  Arabs,  roll  over  all 
difficulties  to  God  with  '  God  has  willed  it.'  They  buitt 
theory  after  theory  as  steps  to  cUmb  to  truth  :  they 
were  convinced  of  the  connection  of  cause  and  effect. 
Like  children  they  were  always  asking  questions,  and  one 
question  led  on  to  another  until  they  came  to  a  barrier 
they  could  not  surmount. 

The  Greek  mind  was  essentially  speculative :  the 
exercise  of  reason  upon  every  department  was  man's 
prerogative.  Oriental  knowledge  was  given  by  revelation 
or  intuition ;  nothing  interested  the  Greek  so  much  as 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge.  Leibnitz  had  the  Greek  spirit 
when  he  said  that  if  an  angel  offered  him  knowledge  in 
the  one  hand,  and  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  in  the  other, 
he  would  choose  the  latter.  The  Greek  alone  pursued 
and  loved  truth  for  itself ;  he  sought  knowledge  not  for 
any  ulterior  motive  but  to  satisfy  a  rational  curiosity. 

Greek  genius  was  nothing  if  not  systematic.  The  Greek 
could  not  carry  two  thoughts  without  systematising, 
correlating,  or  subordinating.  No  half-knowledge,  no 
confused  piHng  of  ideas,  no  chaotic  learning,  but  ordered 
mastered  learning.  He  arranged,  scheduled,  labelled. 
Epistemology  was  bom  with  the  Greek.  He  laid  down 
the  canons  to  which  thought  must  conform  to  be  valid, 
discovered  the  categories  with  a  view  to  precise  thinking. 
He  put  his  intellectual  house  in  order.  He  felt  the  need 
of  harmony,  and  sought  unity  in  diversity  and  diversity  in 
unity.  The  Greeks  were  the  first  real  philosophers.  They 
took  great  pains  in  reclaiming  the  domain  of  knowledge  and 
mapping  it  out.  They  converted  everything  into  an  art.  They 
found  the  confusion  of  Oriental  warfare,  and  they  evolved 
tactics ;  they  found  the  Egyptians  measuring  fields,  and 


Ti.]  THE  GREEK  169 

they  built  up  geometry  and  mathematics ;  they  learned 
writing  from  the  Phoenicians,  but  they  wrote  ;  they  found 
men  piling  chronicles,  and  they  made  it  history ;  out  of 
conflicting  methods  of  social  cohesion,  they  made  politics  ; 
from  theories  of  conduct  and  undefined  right  and  wrong, 
they  made  ethics ;  they  found  men  arriving  at  conclusions, 
and  they  invented  logic  ;  lastly,  they  turned  the  content 
of  the  Gospel  into  a  theology.^ 

Another  feature  of  the  Greek  mind  was  what  we  may 
call  conceit.  They  had  confidence  in  their  own  abifities ; 
they  were  clever  and  they  knew  it.  Their  vice  was 
intellectuaUsm  and  a  tendency  to  over-subtlety.  Equally 
characteristic  was  an  infinite  capacity  for  taking  pains. 
Outspoken  criticism  of  public  opinion  and  a  splendid  lay 
education  demanded  work  which  could  defy  criticism  in 
every  detail.  They  were  like  the  Germans  in  their  syste- 
matic methods  and  attention  to  details.  Their  architecture 
shows  the  acutest  observation  of  lines  and  the  elaboration 
of  sHght  details  which  have  made  it  inimitable.  They 
moulded  their  language  into  the  most  perfect  vehicle  of 
human  thought.  If  Demosthenes  is  the  prince  of  orators 
he  took  the  greatest  pains  in  preparation.  Isocrates  is 
said  to  have  spent  ten  years  on  his  Panegyric,  After 
Plato's  death  a  tablet  was  found  on  which  the  eight  opening 

1  'The  Greek  mind  is  essentially  discursive,  analytical,  and  systematic, 
governing  itself  even  in  its  highest  flights  by  the  ideas  of  measure  and 
symmetry,  of  logical  sequence  and  connexion.  .  .  .  The  Muse  of  Greece,  to 
use  an  expression  of  Goethe,  is  the  companion  of  the  poet  and  not  his 
guide.  The  same  mental  characteristics  are  shown  in  the  political  life  of  the 
Greeks,  in  their  historical  literature,  and,  above  all,  in  their  philosophy. 
They  are  never  satisfied  to  leave  anything  obscure  or  undefined,  or  to  let  any 
element  stand  by  itself  without  being  carefully  distinguished  from  and  related 
to  the  rest.  The  Homeric  hero  who  cried  for  light,  even  if  it  wer«  but  light 
to  die  in,  was  a  genuine  representative  of  the  Greek  spirit.  Hence,  in  spite 
of  their  great  aesthetic  capacity,  their  love  of  the  beautiful  and  their  power 
of  creating  it,  there  never  was  a  nation  less  disposed  to  rest  in  the  con- 
templation of  a  beautiful  symbol,  without  trying  to  analyse  it  into  its 
elements  and  discover  its  exact  meaning.  The  Greek,  again,  was  essentially 
reflective ;  he  was  never  content  to  wield  the  weapons  of  thought  without 
examining  them  ;  rather  he  sought  to  realise  the  precise  value  of  every 
category  or  general  term  which  he  found  him><elf  usicg.' — Caird,  Evolution, 
ii.  188-9. 


170    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

words  of  the  Republic  were  copied  out  in  every  possible 
order.  It  is  only  after  years  of  sympathetic  study  of 
Greek  work  that  one  can  detect  the  thousand  httle  touches 
that  contribute  to  the  perfection  of,  say,  the  Agamemnon 
or  the  Oedipus  Coloneus,  The  Greek  never  accompUshed 
anything  by  happy  chance  as  schoolboys  imagine,  but 
always  with  strenuous  effort,  though  he  understood  that 
ars  est  artem  celare.  Thucydides  was  a  true  Greek  when  he 
tells  us  that  he  wrote  his  history  to  be  *  a  possession  for 
all  time.'  A  Greek  proverb  runs:  'The  gods  sell  all  things 
at  the  price  of  toil  (or  effort),'  and  the  Greeks  were  willing 
to  pay  the  price. 

The  moderation  so  striking  in  their  character  is  even 
more  striking  in  their  genius.  '  Nothing  too  much,'  was 
their  motto.  They  understood  the  secret  of  '  the  half  is 
greater  than  the  whole  ' :  they  always  knew  where  to  stop. 
They  beHeved  with  Aristotle  that  a  thing  ought  to  have 
beginning,  middle,  and  end  in  due  proportion.  Another 
feature  is  the  self-forgetfulness  of  Greek  genius  compared 
with  the  Roman  self-consciousness.  The  Greek  concen- 
trated all  his  attention  on  the  work  and  not  on  the  worker. 
In  Roman  work  the  personaHty  and  character  of  the  author 
are  revealed  so  that  we  know  more  about  Roman  writers 
from  their  own  works  than  we  know  of  any  other  ancient 
writers.  The  Greek  always  stands  so  far  in  the  background 
as  not  to  attract  attention  away  from  his  work.  He  will 
give  no  hints  of  his  own  idiosjTQcrasies :  if  you  wish  to 
know  him  better,  put  the  amount  of  careful  study  into 
his  masterpieces  which  he  did.  When  a  schoolboy  reads 
Thucydides  for  the  first  time,  especially  the  seventh  book, 
he  is  provoked  at  the  self-restraint  and  silence  of  the  author 
amid  the  tragedy  of  his  country.  Again,  the  Greek 
genius  was  ideahstic  as  compared  with  the  symbohsm  of 
the  Orient  and  the  reaUsm  of  Rome.  All  our  ideahsm 
takes  its  rise  in  Greece,  chiefly  in  the  works  of  Plato. 
They  had  a  happy  faculty  of  seeing  things  not  as  they  are, 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  171 

but  as  they  ought  to  be  :  they  brought  the  alchemy  of 
mind  to  bear  upon  matter  and  upon  the  common  things 
of  life. 

Greek  thought  and  genius  were  essentially  anthropo- 
centric  as  opposed  to  the  theocentric  nature  of  Oriental 
genius.  The  Greeks  began  with  man  ;  they  could  regard 
God  as  only  an  enlarged  edition  of  man.  Man  is  of  supreme 
interest  to  the  Greeks,  first  in  his  harmony  with,  and  then 
in  his  opposition  to,  nature ;  in  his  duaHsm  and  the  con- 
tradictions of  his  being,  in  his  unconquerable  mind,  his 
kinship  with  the  Divine.  Hamlet  was  a  Greek  when  he 
said  :  '  What  a  piece  of  work  is  man  !  How  noble  in 
reason  !  how  infinite  in  faculties  !  in  form  and  moving, 
how  express  and  admirable  !  in  action  how  Hke  an  angel ! 
in  apprehension  how  like  a  god  !  the  beauty  of  the  worid ! 
the  paragon  of  animals  !  '  ^  Here  we  must  stop,  for  at 
this  point  he  drifts  into  Oriental  mysticism. 

Place  oj  the  Greeks  in  History 

The  Greeks  have  been  of  enormous  significance  in  history. 
They  were  the  first  Westerners  who  definitely  left  the  ruts 
of  the  past  and  cast  aside  convention.  They  ushered  in 
a  new  era. 

We  are  indebted  to  them  for  poHtical  and  social  experi- 
ments in  which  they  anticipated  all  our  modem  theories. 
The  efforts  they  made  to  escape  despotism  on  the  one  hand, 
and  anarchy  on  the  other,  remain  of  permanent  value. 
They  brought  to  perfection  the  city-state  which  can  never 
be  recreated.  They  are  our  schoolmasters  in  art,  science, 
architecture,  sculpture,  music,  Hterature,  mathematics,  and 
medicine.  To  them  was  committed  the  secular  education 
of  the  ancient  world  for  Christianity,  in  the  preparation 
for  which  their  language  and  philosophy  were  mighty 
factors.  They  introduced  a  new  type  of  man,  '  totus,  teres 
»  Act  II.  3c.  2.     Noted  also  by  Jebb,  Attic  Orators,  i.  xcv-vi 


172    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [cH. 

atque  rotundtis*  complete  as  man,  to  correct  and  supple- 
ment the  one-sidedness  of  Hebrew  and  Roman.  In 
respect  of  perfect  manhood  they  have  still  a  message 
for  all  the  ages.  They  strove  after  the  perfection  and 
harmony  of  our  whole  being,  '  all  that  is  proper  to  man.' 

They  were  the  most  successful  colonisers  of  antiquity, 
and  in  this  respect  played  an  important  role.  At  least 
two  Greek  colonies  decided  the  course  of  world-history — 
Syracuse  and  Byzantium.  Another  Greek  (Macedonian) 
colony,  Alexandria,  became  the  first  and  chief  centre  for 
welding  the  nations  for  Christianity ;  in  it  the  philosophy 
of  the  West  and  the  Revelation  of  the  East  united  to  bless 
humanity.  During  the  eighth  and  fifth  centuries  B.C.  the 
Greeks  planted  colonies  on  all  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  adjacent  seas,  as  far  west  as  Marseilles  and  as 
far  east  as  the  Black  Sea.  From  the  last  quarter  of  the 
fourth  century  B.C.,  Greek  colonies  were  founded  inland 
in  Asia  and  Egypt.  Greek  colonies  played  a  prominent 
part  in  early  Christianity. 

Greece  rendered  signal  service  to  both  the  ancient 
and  the  modem  world  in  educating  the  two  conquering 
peoples — the  Macedonians  and  the  Romans.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  influence  of  Greece,  these  peoples  would 
have  brought  wholesale  devastation  with  their  conquests. 
When  Macedon  became  her  apt  pupil  and  with  her  aid 
conquered  the  East,  there  was  opened  a  boundless  future 
for  Greek  culture,  enterprise,  language  and  philosophy. 
The  Greeks  went  forth  to  civiUse  and  educate.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  spell  of  Greek  culture,  the  Roman  would 
have  proved  the  Tamerlane  of  antiquity :  he  would  have 
ruthlessly  wiped  out  the  East  with  the  thoroughness 
with  which  he  wiped  out  Carthage,  Etruria,  and  Corinth. 
Rome  came  to  Greece  a  barbaric  conquering  people,  but 
went  home  with  an  endowment  of  culture,  refinement, 
and  humanity,  though  she  often  better  reproduced  Greek 
vices  than  Greek  virtues. 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  173 

Greece  gave  to  early  Christianity  a  world  unified  in 
language  and  culture.  It  is  a  striking  fact  which  speaks 
volumes  for  Hellenism  that  the  Hellenised  world  most 
eagerly  accepted  Christianity,  and  that  our  Oriental 
Gospel  has  never  taken  root  in  its  own  soil  as  it  did 
first  in  the  Greek,  and  through  the  Greek,  in  the  Roman 
world.  There  was  plainly  some  strong  affinity  between 
Hellenism  and  Christianity.  The  dispersion  of  Greek 
scholars  and  Greek  books  after  the  fall  of  a  Greek  colony, 
Byzantium,  helped  to  arouse  Christian  Europe  from  the 
darkness  of  mediaevahsm  and  usher  in  the  Renaissance 
which  made  the  Reformation  possible.  Men  cannot  sleep 
where  the  spirit  of  Greece  enters.  And  '  to  the  modem 
world,  too,  Greece  has  been  the  great  civihser,  the  ecumenical 
teacher,  the  disturber  and  regenerator  of  slimibering 
societies.  She  is  the  source  of  most  of  the  quickening 
ideas  which  re-make  nations  and  renovate  literature  and 
art.  If  we  reckon  up  our  secular  possessions,  the  wealth 
and  heritage  of  the  past,  the  larger  share  may  be  traced 
back  to  Greece.  One-half  of  Hfe  she  has  made  her  domain — 
all,  or  well-nigh  all,  that  belongs  to  the  present  order  of 
things  and  to  the  visible  world.'  ^ 

Greece  not  only  introduced  the  Western  spirit  but  she 
defended  it  against  the  encroachments  of  the  East  (Persia), 
until  the  Macedonian  and  the  Roman  undertook  the  task. 
For  this  alone  she  has  deserved  well  of  history.  Superior 
as  the  East  was  to  the  West  in  religion,  if  Marathon  and 
Salamis  had  gone  against  Greece  it  would  have  been  more 
disastrous  for  the  world  than  if  Hannibal  had  conquered 
at  Zama.  '  In  those  earHer  ages,  the  victory  of  the  East 
over  Greece  would  have  been  the  triumph  of  nature  over 
man,  of  necessity  over  moral  freedom,  of  a  caste  system 
or  of  despotism  over  free  organisation  and  inteUigence, 
of  stagnation  over  progress,  of  symboUsm  over  beauty, 
of  the  arid  plain  over  the  mountain  and  the  sea.    The 

1  Butcher,  Aspects  of  Oreek  Oenius,  p.  43. 


174    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

actual  victory  of  East  and  West,  which  took  place  at  the 
triumph  of  Christianity,  had  in  it  no  such  sinister  meaning. 
Greece  had  already  won  freedom  in  all  its  branches — 
freedom  for  society,  freedom  for  the  individual,  freedom  for 
thought.  She  had  written  her  spirit  in  books  and  on 
tables  of  stone  .  .  .  which  record  the  supremacy  of  mind 
over  sense,  of  spirit  over  matter.  She  had  shown  how  the 
love  of  beauty  might  be  united  with  the  love  of  truth,  art 
with  science,  how  reason  might  be  made  imaginative.  .  .  . 
Henceforth  it  is  in  the  confluence  of  the  Hellenic  stream 
of  thought  with  the  waters  that  flow  from  Hebrew  sources 
that  the  main  direction  of  the  world's  progress  is  to  be 
sought.'  * 

Greek  Thought 

The  most  perennial  contribution  of  Greece  to  all  time 
is  Greek  thought.  Greek  philosophy  is  the  most  profound 
and  comprehensive  ever  produced  by  one  people,  the 
rich  result  of  1200  years'  indefatigable  endeavour  after 
reahty.  Her  philosophy,  directed  to  every  point  of  the 
compass  of  thought,  is  of  fascinating  interest.  We  have 
its  whole  history  before  us  :  we  can  trace  the  steps  by  which 
men  sought  to  reduce  chaos  to  cosmos,  how  they  offered 
one  solution  of  the  problem  of  man  and  the  universe  after 
another,  and  finally  how  philosophy  raised  questions 
which  only  religion  could  answer,  how  its  last  voice  was 
a  call  to  men  to  seek  the  synthesis  of  Ufe  in  revelation  and 
religion.  They  followed  the  natural  order  of  man's 
progress,  taking  first  the  outward  look,  then  the  inner, 
and  then  the  upward  ;  ^  or,  nature,  man,  God.  Their  first 
philosophy  was  that  of  the  object  and  the  impersonal  until 
the  time  of  Socrates ;  their  next  concern  was  with  the  sub- 
jective or  personal ;  their  last  was  the  search  for  a  synthesis 

I  Butcher,  ib. ,  p.  45, 
Cf.  Caird,  Evolution  o/ Religion  (3rd  ed.),  vol.  i.  p.  77. 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  175 

which  Greek  philosophy  did  not  find  because  no  philosophy 
can. 

The  atmosphere  of  free  civic  Greece  provided  many 
incentives  to  thought.  There  was  boundless  pubUcity 
and  outspoken  criticism  intolerant  of  anything  but  the 
best.  Each  Greek  was  a  member  of  the  body  pohtic  and 
required  to  think.  The  right  to  vote  led  him  to  acquaint 
himself  with  the  issues  of  pubhc  Ufe,  and  to  seek  the  best 
method  of  obtaining  a  hearing.  Their  thinking  was  not 
chained  to  the  past  nor  hampered  by  tradition,  nor  under 
the  censorship  of  a  priesthood  :  no  silencing  authority 
forbade  rerum  cognoscere  causae.  All  knowledge  was  lay. 
They  had  no  text-books  either  to  guide  or  hamper.  With 
naive  self-confidence,  *hke  Httle  wanton  boys  that  swim 
on  bladders,'  they  launched  forth,  dreaming  not  of  the 
abysmal  deeps,  the  shallows,  and  the  starless  nights. 

Early  Schools 

The  four  earhest  schools  were  (1)  the  Ionic,  which 
inquired  into  the  origin  of  the  world,  of  what  it  is  composed, 
which  discovered  the  o-pxi  or  substantial  cause  of  things 
in  some  one  material  principle.  (2)  The  Pythagoreans,  who, 
viewing  the  world  as  a  cosmos,  sought  the  essence  of  things 
in  number  and  proportion.  They  saw  unity  in  multiph- 
city.  This  was  the  first  practical  school  of  morality  in 
Greece,  the  first  which  united  rehgion  and  morality.  They 
introduced  mysticism  into  Greek  thought,  and  were  the 
precursors  of  Platonic  spirituaHsm ;  they  proclaimed  the 
unity  of  God,  the  idea  of  future  retribution  and  reward, 
the  transmigration  of  souls,  the  duty  of  a  pure  hfe  and  the 
need  of  self-examination.  (3)  The  Eleatics,  who  denied  the 
possibihty  of  absolute  genesis  and  decay  and  so  the  pluraHty 
of  things.  Only  essences  are  real  and  all  essences  are  one  : 
the  best  can  only  be  one.  The  universe  is  a  unity,  pluraHty 
and  variety  being  only  appearance  to  senses  that  are  not 


176    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

to  be  trusted.  The  Eleatics  rose  to  God  by  the  d  priori  or 
metaphysical  method,  as  Anaxagoras  by  the  teleological. 
They  '  extemaUsed  the  conclusions  of  the  pure  reason 
itselJE,'  and  '  formally  created  the  metaphysical  system  of 
the  universe.'  ^  They  presented  a  monism,  which  could  lead 
either  to  monotheism  or  pantheism.^  Their  motto  might 
have  been,  '  the  One  remains,  the  Many  change  and  pass.* 
(4)  The  Physicists.  Heraclitus  formed  the  transition  stage 
from  matter  to  mind.  He  was  so  impressed  with  the  reign 
of  change  that  he  saw  no  law  except  that  of  ceaseless 
change — 'all  things  are  in  a  state  of  flux,  nothing  continues,' 
or,  in  the  words  of  Tennyson,  '  Nothing  was  bom,  nothing 
will  die ;  all  things  will  change.'  So  he  demanded  an 
explanation  of  genesis  and  decay,  and  thus  stated  the 
problem  which  the  Atomists  answered  by  the  combination 
and  separation  of  atoms.  Anaxagoras  who  closes  this 
period  definitely  separates  spirit  from  sense :  he  made 
the  epoch-making  declaration  that  nature  is  intelligible 
only  as  the  work  of  an  Ordering  Mind.  He  saw  order  in 
nature  and  became  the  first  of  Greek  theists.  As  con- 
trasted with  the  materialistic  monism  of  his  predecessors 
he  bequeathed  to  Greek  thought  that  dualism  which  it 
never  surmounted. 

In  this  early  period  we  note  a  steady  growth  from 
concrete  to  abstract,  from  a  natural  to  a  spiritual  principle, 
from  chance  and  chaos  to  intelligence.  Greek  philosophy 
was  in  this  period  '  in  respect  to  its  object  a  philosophy  of 
nature ;  ...  in  respect  to  its  procedure,  a  dogmatism  ; 
i.e.  it  seeks  to  obtain  a  theory  of  the  objective  world  before 
it  has  given  account  to  itself  of  the  problem  and  conditions 
of  scientific  knowledge  ...  in  its  results  it  is  realistic, 
and  even  materialistic  ;  not  till  the  end  of  this  period  was 
the  difference  between  spiritual  and  corporeal  brought  to 
consciousness  by  Anaxagoras.'  ^ 

1  Butler,  i.  346.  «  Pfleiderer,  Vorbereitung,  p.  7. 

»  Zeller,  Outlines,  p.  28. 


VL]  THE  GREEK  177 

The  most  important  truth  propounded  in  this  period, 
that  of  Anaxagoras,  must  wait  for  a  Socrates  and  Plato 
to  take  it  up.  A  new  spirit  passed  over  the  Greek  world 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.  Scepticism  had 
been  introduced.  How  was  the  truth  of  the  many  theories 
to  be  tested  ?  Suspicion  fell  upon  scientific  theorising  as 
idle  and  aimless :  the  interest  was  already  shifting  from 
the  outer  world  of  nature  to  the  inner  of  spirit.  Already 
some  of  the  Physicists  and  Eleatics  had  challenged  the 
cognisability  of  objects  by  sensible  perception.  Where 
and  what  was  the  criterion  ?  Greek  love  of  praise  con- 
spired to  corrupt  philosophy.  Knowledge  fetched  applause, 
and  philosophy  had  a  market  value.  In  the  absence  of 
printing  the  philosopher  must  be  an  orator  or  even  a 
demagogue  to  reach  the  pubHc  ear.  Add  to  this  '  the 
tendency  of  Greek  genius  to  dwell  upon  form  rather  than 
inner  reaUty.'  With  the  march  of  triumphant  democracy 
and  the  awakening  after  the  Persian  wars  each  wanted  an 
education  to  fit  him  for  practical  life.  Here  set  in  the 
demand  for  the  practical  that  asserted  itself  prominently 
in  the  post- Aristotelian  period. 


Sophists 

The  Sophists  appeared  for  good  or  evil  in  Greek  history. 
Indifferent  to  city  patriotism,  their  object  was  to  train 
men  for  practical  Ufe  in  a  manner  remunerative  to  them- 
selves. They  were  thoroughgoing  sceptics,  maintaining 
that  knowledge  is  impossible,  and  cannot  lead  to  reahty, 
and,  if  attained,  could  not  be  communicated.  They 
doubted  everything  :  they  neither  formed  a  school  nor  do 
their  theories  form  a  system.  They  were  subjectivists : 
truth  is  relative  to  each  man  in  each  of  his  moods  ;  there  is 
no  absolute,  objective,  universal  truth  ;  no  standard  to 
which  to  appeal.  Laws  are  mere  convention  entailing  no 
moral   obligation.     What  is   lawful  in   Megara   may   be 

M 


178    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

unlawful  in  Athens.  They  were  individualists  :  each  may 
do  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes^  Prol^bras  laid  down  the 
principle  of  the  movement :  '  Man  is  the  measure  of  all 
things  ;  of  those  that  are  how  they  are  ;  of  those  that  are 
not  how  they  are  not.*  Their  method,  eristic,  was  calcu- 
lated not  to  reach  conviction  but  '  to  make  the  worse 
appear  the  better  reason.'  They  are  blamed  by  Socrates, 
Plato,  and  many  modems  for  corrupting  Greek  society. 
They  were  rather  the  keen  observers  and  spokesmen  of 
their  day  :  they  merely  put  into  words  what  Greek  states 
practised,  '  might  is  right.' 

The  Sophists  were  the  educators  of  the  Greek  spirit  and 
harbingers  of  the  Greek  Enlightenment.  The  net  result 
of  Sophisticism  was  to  raise  the  question,  What  is  truth  ? 
and  where  is  the  criterion  ?  They  broke  down  convention 
by  setting  natural  right  against  it ;  they  weakened  popular 
superstition ;  they  made  thought  supreme  over  external 
authority ;  they  demonstrated  that  science  is  as  helpless 
to  give  a  moral  basis  for  man's  hfe  as  to  give  an  explana- 
tion of  the  universe  ;  they  gave  voice  to  the  failure  of  the 
guesses  of  earHer  schools  and  made  scepticism  henceforth 
a  power  in  Greek  thought.  Sweeping  away  the  moraUty 
of  tradition,  civic  and  legal,  they  compelled  thoughtful 
men  to  inquire  if  man  has  a  moral  nature  and  on  what  it 
rests.  Bringing  science  and  morahty  equally  into  con- 
fusion, they  ushered  in  an  era  of  moral  (Socrates  and  Plato) 
and  scientific  (Aristotle)  investigation.  They  made 
philosophy  anthropological.^ 

Socrates 

Socrates,  '  almost  the  ideal  of  humanity  itself,'  inaugu- 
rated a  new  era  in  the  higher  life.    He  called  philosophy 

1  'Their  merit  is  that  they  claimed  on  behalf  of  man  that  the  principle 
which  is  to  explain  experience  must  be  in  harmony  with  his  self-conscious- 
ness. Their  defect  is  that  they  have  construed  man  too  poorly,  and  have 
regarded  self-consciousness  as  little  more  than  individual  opinion  or  feeling.' 
— Kilpatrick,  Philosophy,  in  Hastings'  D.  B. 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  179 

from  physics  and  sophistry  to  logic  and  morality,  from 
nature  to  man.  He  completed  the  work  of  Sophisticism 
in  making  thought  anthropological.  His  position  was  'the 
proper  study  of  mankind  is  man.'  He  sought  knowledge 
for  the  practical  purposes  of  moral  reformation.  To  the 
dogmatism  of  the  early  schools  and  the  scepticism  of 
Sophisticism  he  opposed  '  humble  inquiry.'  In  answer  to 
the  attack  of  the  Sophists  upon  the  possibility  of  knowledge 
he  maintained  that  knowledge  is  attainable  through  the 
fixing  of  concepts  by  the  dialectic  method :  this  gives  the 
ultimate  reahty,  things  in  themselves.  He  asserted  the 
existence  of  objective,  universal  truth :  the  criterion  is  the 
harmony  of  our  notions  and  conceptions  with  the  thing 
in  itself.  That  universal  True  and  Right  is  the  standard 
for  our  notions  and  conduct.  He  thus  vindicated  the 
vaUdity  of  thought.  Correct  thinking  meant  correct 
action,  for  he  identified  virtue  with  knowledge ;  hence 
salvation  is  by  wisdom,  for  no  man  who  knows  right  will 
do  wrong.  Socrates  was  oblivious  of  man's  perverted  will. 
He  has  been  well  termed  the  *  father  of  moral  science '  : 
he  established  moraUty  upon  a  new  and  firm  basis,  finding 
its  sanction  not  in  custom,  tradition,  law,  or  even  the 
authority  of  state,  but  in  man's  innate  moral  consciousness. 
*  Conscious  morality  in  the  ancient  classical  world  begins 
with  him,  because  he  is  the  first  to  substitute  the  authority 
of  the  individual  for  that  of  the  state.'  ^  He  advocated 
the  freedom  of  man's  will  and  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment :  '  I  must  obey  God  rather  than  you,'  he  said  to 
his  judges.  He  made  the  first  Greek  appeal  to  man's 
conscience, '  the  wife  from  which  one  can  never  be  divorced.' 
He  beheved  that  he  possessed  a  daemon,  or  divine  voice 
restraining  him  from  evil,  and  that  all  have  an  intuitive 
sense  of  right  and  wrong.  When  the  organism  of  the 
state  was  threatening  to  break  up,  he  came  forward  to 
rescue  and  guide  the  individual,   calling  upon  him  to 

I  Wenley,  Preparation  for  Christianity,  p.  35. 


180    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

reflect  upon  the  inestimable  worth  of  his  soul.  He  elevated 
Anaxagoras'  ordering  Mind  into  a  supreme  God  to  be 
worshipped  in  purity  of  heart.  About  the  immortaUty 
of  the  soul  he  was  uncertain.  His  emphasis  upon  Know 
Thyself  proved  epoch-making :  '  a  life  without  self- 
examination  is  not  worthy  of  man.'  He  became  the 
herald  of  man's  personaUty,  the  prophet  of  self -conscious- 
ness, opening  up  a  vast  unexplored  continent  wherein  so 
many  followers  from  Augustine  to  our  day  have  experienced 
the  pain  and  immensity  of  personaUty.  His  mission  was 
that  of  a  soul-curer  and  reformer ;  but  he  was  conscious  of 
the  inabiUty  of  abstract  truth  to  elevate  man.  He  uncon- 
sciously felt  the  need  for  an  Incarnation  and  a  Revelation. 
He  longed  for  illumination  from  heaven,  some  super- 
natural guide,  god  or  demon.  If  the  Heavenly  Love  were 
only  to  take  bodily  form.  '  Oh,  if  virtue  had  only  a  body 
and  men  could  see  her  with  their  eyes,  how  they  should 
run  to  embrace  her.'  Add  to  this  the  wealth  of  his  per- 
sonahty,^  and  the  unfading  impressiveness  of  his  dying 
moments. 

Minor  Socratics 

Of  the  Minor  Socratics  the  Megarians  took  up  the 
speculative  side  of  Socrates'  teaching,  the  Cynics  and 
Cyrenaics  its  subjective,  individual,  negative  and  practical 
aspects.  The  Megarians  held  that  the  senses  give  but  the 
changing  appearances,  and  only  thought  the  reality.  They 
identified  the  Good  with  the  unchanging  One  of  Parmenides. 
All  Being  is  a  Unity  whether  termed  Deity,  Intelhgence,  or 
Reason .  Only  the  actual  is  possible,  and  only  the  unchange- 
able is  actual.  The  world  of  multipHcity  is  illusory,  reaHty 
belonging  to  the  Universal. 

1  *  Eine  Personlichkeit,  die  in  ihrer  inneren  Selbstgewissheit  und  religids 
begriindeten  Uberzeugungstreue  als  eine  eigentiimlicn  neue  Erscheinung  in 
der  antiken  Welt,  als  ein  Vorlaufer  und  Prophet  d«8  Christentums  zn 
betracbten  ist.'— Pfleiderer,  p.  16. 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  181 

The  Cynics  and  Cyrenaics — the  precursors  of  the  Stoics 
and  Epicureans — derived  their  doctrines  ea<;h  from  a 
distortion  of  Socrates'  teaching.  Socrates  had  inseparably 
connected  virtue  and  happiness,  which  Antisthenes  (founder 
of  the  Cynic  school)  distorted  into  '  virtue  is  happiness,' 
identifying  virtue  with  pain,  and  Aristippus  (founder  of  the 
Cyrenaic)  into  '  happiness  is  virtue,'  which  led  to  licence. 
The  aim  of  both  was  to  render  man  independent — the  one 
by  training  the  will  to  suppress  the  desires,  the  other  by 
compelling  nature  to  gratify  them. 


Plato 

Plato  continued  the  work  of  Socrates  in  the  search  after 
ultimate  reahty  and  a  deeper  spiritual  unity.  Commenc- 
ing with  the  Socratic  form  of  the  Anaxagorean  Nous  and 
the  concept  philosophy  of  his  master,  he  examined  the 
eternal  One  of  Parmenides  and  the  Being  of  Heraclitus, 
to  find  both  unsatisfactory.  We  must  by  induction  rise 
from  the  individual  to  the  universal,  for  only  the  Universal 
is  real  and  self-existent,  not  existing  merely  in  our  or  God's 
thought  of  it.  The  purpose  of  knowledge  is  practical — 
to  make  men  better  citizens  and  to  elevate  them  above 
sense.  The  central  point  of  Plato's  philosophy  is  his 
theory  of  Ideas,  which  was  his  solution  of  the  problem  of 
reahtj^  The  things  we  see  here  are  not  real ;  they  are 
mere  shadows,  faint  copies  of  the  archetype  in  the  spiritual 
world.  This  eidos  or  idea  is  the  essence  of  things.  Ideas 
and  things  are  related  as  the  pattern  and  the  copy.  Plato's 
system  is  monistic  in  so  far  as  the  copies  or  things  are 
immanent  in  the  idea ;  it  is  monism  by  means  of  pure  ideal- 
ism. But  as  Plato  gave  a  metaphysical  existence  to  ideas, 
separating  things  from  ideas  and  ideas  from  things,  there 
resulted  a  dualism.  He  sets  in  irreconcilable  antithesis 
sense  and  spirit,  body  and  soul,  transient  and  permanent. 


182    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY  [ch. 

At  the  apex  of  the  ideas  stands  that  of  the  Good  towards 
which  all  is  striving.  He  solved  the  problem  of  knowledge 
by  saying  that  all  learning  is  onlyremembering  what  we  have 
known  in  a  previous  existence.  The  only  use  of  things  is 
that  they  suggest  to  us  their  eternal  ideas  or  archetypes,  as 
a  photograph  reminds  us  of  an  absent  friend.  To  Plato  the 
soul  is  of  tremendous  value.  It  is  akin  to  the  Divine,  and 
in  a  previous  existence  has  consorted  with  the  highest  ideas 
of  Beauty  and  Goodness,  of  which  it  is  enamoured.  Salva- 
tion consists  in  education  and  knowledge,  for  '  we  needs 
must  love  the  highest  when  we  see  it '  ;  Plato  could  not 
imagine  the  will  of  man  deHberately  choosing  evil  to  its 
own  hurt.  The  soul  yearns  to  return  to  its  true  father- 
land to  contemplate  the  Good.  Man's  chief  end  is 
to  rise  above  the  perishing,  soar  to  God  by  Love,  'the 
wing  of  the  soul,'  and  imitate  God  so  as  to  become  as 
Uke  Him  as  possible.  Virtue  is  the  only  path  to  happi- 
ness, which  is  found  in  the  pursuit  of  the  highest  until 
we  see  God. 

Plato  was  keenly  aUve  to  the  duaUsm  of  our  nature ; 
its  complexity  tortured  him.  How  could  such  a  spiritual 
being  hanker  after  the  transient  ?  How  grow  forgetful 
of  its  true  home  ?  Plato's  answer  was,  Because  of  the 
flesh,  which  we  must  put  off  to  see  God ;  it  is  the  answer 
of  Paul,  '  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  is  not 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.'  The 
soul  is  like  a  charioteer  driving  two  spirited  horses,  a  white 
one  which  strives  upward,  and  a  black  one  which  pulls  in  the 
contrary  direction.  The  body  is  a  burden  which  cannot 
come  into  the  scheme  of  salvation.  But  the  soul  is  infinitely 
precious:  Plato  seems  often  to  anticipate  'What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own 
soul  ? '  The  grandest  day  in  Greek  thought  was  the  day  on 
which  Plato  approached  the  subject  of  the  immortaUty  of 
the  soul.  Every  student  is  familiar  with  his  references  to 
this  doctrine  in  the  Apology,  the  Timaeus,  and  Republicj 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  183 

more  especially  in  the  Symposium  and  Phaedrus,  and  with 
its  treatment  in  the  Phaedo.  We  unconsciously  associate 
ourselves  with  the  listeners  in  reading  the  Phaedo,  feel 
the  force  of  the  objections,  share  in  the  alarm  at  the 
exquisite  dramatic  crises  as  Socrates  unfolds  the  five 
arguments  for  immortaUty  which  to  us  are  antiquated. 
But  Plato  also  anticipated  our  chief  reasons — apart  from 
the  Resurrection  of  Christ — for  this  faith,  the  kinship  of 
the  soul  with  the  Divine,  the  moral  argument,  and  the 
longing  for  continued  life.  Plato  had  entered  the  kingdom 
of  the  spirit. 

It  was  no  small  boon  to  humanity  to  have  his  lofty 
spirituaHty  diffusing  its  influence  400  years  B.C.  One  of 
the  world's  greatest  reHgious  teachers,  he  taught  in  inimit- 
able prose-poetry  that  man  doth  not  hve  by  bread  alone, 
that  only  the  things  of  the  spirit  are  of  absolute  and 
eternal  worth.  His  Love  was  a  passion  for  the  Eternal, 
the  regret  for  a  better  world.  No  one  understood  more 
profoundly  the  unutterable  yearnings  of  the  soul.  The 
words  of  Augustine  are  truly  Platonic,  '  Thou  hast  made 
us  for  Thyself,  and  our  hearts  are  restless  till  they  rest  in 
Thee.'     He  felt 

*  Those  first  affections,  those  shadowy  recollections 
Which,  be  they  what  they  may, 
Are  yet  the  fountain  light  of  all  our  day, 
Are  yet  the  master-light  of  all  our  seeing, 
Uphold  us,  cherish  and  have  power  to  make 
Our  noisy  years  seem  moments  in  the  being 
Of  an  eternal  silence.* 

He  reahsed  that  if  man  knew  himself,  his  craving  is  not 
to  satisfy  one  part  of  his  nature,  or  one  passion,  but  to  find 
satisfaction  for  an  infinite  spirit.  Any  student  can  point 
out  flaws  in  Plato.  With  all  his  flaws  he  stands,  and  shall 
stand,  one  of  the  great  uphfters  of  man.  No  wonder  he 
was  the  schoolmaster  of  so  many  Christian  Fathers. 


184    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

Aristotle 

Aristotle,  *  the  master  of  them  that  know/  was  the 
subtlest  thinker  of  Greece.^  Plato  had  denaturaUsed  man 
into  pure  spirit.  To  Aristotle  this  was  repugnant :  he 
would  not  call  men  away  from  earth,  but  to  duty  and 
activity.  Happiness  is  the  end  of  Ufe,  but  does  not  consist 
in  the  satisfaction  of  momentary  caprices  but  in  the  poise 
of  all  the  faculties,  pleasure  being  not  the  aim  but  the 
concomitant  of  right  action.  Conduct  is  not  to  be  judged 
by  general  laws  but  by  the  interpretation  each  has  made 
to  himself  of  those  laws.  Plato  held  appetites  to  be  evil 
in  themselves ;  Aristotle  as  neither  good  nor  bad  in  them- 
selves ;  they  become  good  by  subserving  good,  evil  by 
subserving  evil  ends.  All  depends  on  the  purpose  or  end. 
The  things  of  earth  are  not  to  be  rejected  for  other- worldli- 
ness ;  all  things  are  materials  of  conduct,  instruments  to 
work  out  ends,  the  raw  material  of  virtue  or  vice.  Plato 
had  led  men  up  the  mount  to  be  entranced  by  the  loveliness 
of  Goodness,  to  see  the  littleness  of  the  transient ;  Aristotle 
led  men  down  to  the  plain  to  develop  what  is  *  proper  to 
man.'  Plato's  doctrine  would  lead  to  asceticism  and 
other-worldliness ;  Aristotle  insisted  on  workaday  goodness 
and  a  rounded  life.  Man  must  observe  the  golden  mean  by 
which  to  choose  the  amount  of  pleasure  or  pain  good  for 
our  moral  constitution.  Man's  chief  end  is  the  activity 
of  his  multifold  nature  toward  a  rational  purpose.  For 
Plato  the  love  of  God  was  the  cause  of  the  world's  creation. 
In  Aristotle  there  is  an  unbridged  chasm  between  his 
Absolute  of  Pure  Thought  and  inert  Matter.  His  God  is 
so  self-sufficient  that  he  has  no  need  of  man  or  the  universe. 
The  prime  Mover,  activity  cannot  proceed  from  him  except 

1  He  is  the  father  of  the  analytic  method,  as  Plato  of  the  synthetic,  also 
the  creator  of  zoology  and  botany.  He  assigned  its  place  to  empiricism, 
rescued  the  individual  from  Plato's  universal,  rejected  the  entity  of  ideas 
apart  from  things,  substituted  for  the  Platonic  dualism  of  ideas  and 
things  that  of  Form  and  Matter. 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  185 

in  so  far  as  he  is  the  object  of  the  world's  striving.     '  God 
does  not  love  the  world,  but  the  world  loves  God.' 

Aristotle  supplied  the  wholesome  corrective  to  Platonism. 
Plato  made  philosophy  a  religion  ;  Aristotle  a  science.  He 
set  scientific  knowledge  to  balance  transcendentalism  and 
mysticism  ;  enthroned  the  head  beside  the  heart.  He  set 
Greek  thought  on  its  course  of  another  six  hundred  years 
which  Plato  would  have  overleapt.  Aristotle's  philosophy 
is  that  of  sweet  moderation  ;  he  is  no  extremist  Uke 
Plato,  but  the  sanest  thinker  of  Greece  ;  he  is  the  enemy 
of  the  ascetic  ideal  as  against  the  social  and  energetic. 
The  individual  is  of  too  great  worth  to  be  swamped  in  the 
Universal,  but  the  individual  can  fimction  wholesomely 
only  in  society.  If  his  works  are  cold,  scientific,  prosaic 
compared  with  the  rehgious  glow  and  imagination  of  Plato, 
they  are  none  the  less  essential  to  the  world's  education. 
It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  spirituaUty  and  idealism  of  Plato 
appealed  to  the  Christian  Fathers  who  were  not  untouched 
by  Weltsckmerz ;  but  the  essence  of  Aristotehanism  is  as 
necessary  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth. 
Platonism  has  affinities  with  the  temperament  of  the 
dreamer  and  futurist,  but  only  the  sober  earnest  Christian 
worker  can  practise  Aristotehanism,  which  places  happiness 
not  in  dreaming  but  in  activity.  If  Plato  is  the  interpreter 
of  rehgion,  Aristotle  is  the  world's  morahst. 

Post-Aristotelian  Philosophy 

A  new  stage  in  Greek  thought  commences  after  Aristotle. 
A  great  change  has  set  in.  The  world  is  growing  one 
commonwealth  as  the  polis  falls  ;  as  public  and  civic  life 
are  crushed  out,  ethics  displaces  politics.  The  old  moral 
restraints  and  bases  of  conduct  are  undermined.  Indi- 
viduaUsm  is  rampant.  Speculation  must  give  place  to 
practice,  as  the  bewildered  individual  imperiously  demands 
moral  guidance.     The   search   is  now   not   so   much   for 


186    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

knowledge,  as  how  to  use  that  already  acquired.  Only 
practical  questions  can  secure  a  hearing.  In  the  desire  to 
find  a  moral  guide  men  are  wilUng  to  try  any  and  every 
system ;  hence  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  syncretism. 
Philosophy  becomes  less  Greek  and  more  cosmopohtan,  less 
philosophy  and  more  rehgion. 

The  chief  phases  of  post-AristoteUan  thought  are 
Stoicism,  Epicureanism,  Scepticism,  Eclecticism,  Neo- 
Pythagoreanism,  Graeco-Judaic  philosophy,  and  Neo- 
Platonism. 

Stoicism 

Stoicism  was  a  splendid  disciphne  and  preparation  of 
the  Empire  for  Christianity :  it  has  remained  the  ally  of 
Christianity  and  an  inspiration  to  our  best  poets,  hke 
Browning.  Stoicism  was  not  a  pure  Greek  product,  much 
of  its  spirit  and  many  of  its  teachers  coming  from  the  East. 
Its  message  was  that  not  things  but  our  thought  of  things 
matters : 

*  The  mind  is  its  own  place,  and  in  itself 
Can  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of  heaven.' 

Health,  disease,  pain,  poverty,  wealth  are  in  themselves 
neither  goods  nor  ills :  only  when  we  take  them  up  into  our 
inner  life  do  they  have  any  meaning.  The  Stoics  pro- 
claimed the  supremacy  of  virtue  as  man's  chief  end,  and 
the  duty  of  self-control.  Reason  was  appointed  guardian 
or  exterminator  of  the  affections,  and  duty  took  the  place 
of  interest,  for  the  Stoics  were  the  first  pagan  preachers 
who  enthroned  duty  in  its  high  place ;  they  put  a  supreme 
value  on  character.  They  were  pantheists,  beheving  in 
a  Spirit  diffused  throughout  all,  and  operative  in  a  universal 
law.  Salvation  is  anthropocentric,  man  being  potentially 
his  own  saviour.  It  consists  in  the  eradication  of  the 
passions,  the  suppression  of  the  emotions,  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  will.     While  they  held  to  the  reign  of  a  universal 


VL]  THE  GREEK  187 

law,  they  equally  maintained  the  freedom  of  the  will,  in 
the  exercise  of  which,  according  to  reason,  consists  the 
dignity  of  man.  No  sympathy  or  help  is  demanded  from 
God  or  men.  Inward  peace  arises  from  resignation  to  the 
will  of  God.  Virtue  is  self-sufficing :  we  ought  to  do  good 
though  neither  Gods  nor  men  behold  our  action.  The 
Stoics  took  up  the  Platonic  idea — to  imitate  or  follow 
God.  Seneca  says,  '  I  do  not  obey  God :  I  consent  with 
Him.'  The  reward  of  self-denial  is  an  approving  conscience 
and  self-complacency.  The  hope  of  immortality  is  not 
necessary.  Thus  man's  reason  and  will  are  the  instruments 
of  salvation,  self-control  and  duty  the  law  of  life,  and 
imperturbability  the  crown : 

*Si  fractus  illabatur  orbis 
Impavidum  ferient  ruinae.* 

In  knowledge  the  Stoics  were  empirics.  Their  system  was 
a  blend  of  materialism  and  pantheism.  The  soul  is 
material  and  immortal  only  to  the  end  of  the  aeon.  Stoicism 
advanced  personahty  by  putting  a  new  emphasis  on  will 
and  duty.  It  proclaimed  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the 
Providence  of  God,  the  reign  of  moral  law,  and  an  inter- 
pretation of  suffering. 

Other  Greek  schools  were  uttering  their  voices.  The 
Peripatetics  took  practically  no  part  in  religious  affairs  : 
they  were  occupied  with  commenting  on  their  master's 
works  and  with  natural  science.  They  had  no  spiritual 
gospel  to  offer  to  a  weary  world. 

E  epicureanism 

Epicureanism,  the  first  reasoned  system  of  happiness, 
was  atheistic  or  deistic  in  reUgion  and  utiUtarian  in  morals. 
*  Follow  nature,'  but  nature  prompts  to  eschew  pain  and 
pursue  pleasure  ;  therefore  pleasure  is  the  summum  honum. 
The  criterion  in  knowledge  and  conduct  is  sensuous  per- 


188    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

ception.  The  world  is  the  result  of  the  fortuitous  concourse 
of  atoms  ;  the  deity  leads  a  life  of  tranquilhty  undisturbed 
by  the  travail  of  humanity.  Even  this  system  was  a  gospel 
for  its  day;  it  freed  men  from  the  tyranny  of  fataUsm,  from 
the  fear  of  the  gods,  of  death  and  future  punishment,  and 
all  the  burdens  of  superstition.  Salvation  was  negative 
and  individuahstic  ;  no  rewards  were  proposed,  no  terrors 
threatened  ;  there  was  no  God  suffering  with  and  for  man. 
Salvation  is  confined  to  this  life  ;  there  is  no  place  of 
repentance,  no  room  for  hope.  The  soul  is  a  composite 
of  the  rarer  and  finer  atoms  which  are  dissipated  at  death. 
Beyond  the  fiammantia  moenia  mundi  there  awaits  us  only 
leti  secura  quies.  Such  is  the  gospel  whose  motto  is  dux 
vitae  dia  voluptas.  This  very  philosophy  which  claimed 
to  liberate  man  is  guilty  of  what  it  charged  against  super- 
stition ,  Omnia  suffundens  mortis  nigrore.  Natural  hesitancy 
in  leaving  '  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day '  is  over- 
come by  such  consolations  as  that  the  longing  for  immor- 
taUty  arises  from  man's  pride ;  with  life  are  extinguished 
all  bitter  regrets,  all  yearning  after  happiness  ;  '  when  we 
are  death  is  not,  when  death  is  we  are  not '  ;  greater  than 
we  have  died,  and  we  should  be  resigned  to  a  universal  law. 
Epicureanism  did  not  inculcate  sensualism,  though  it  easily 
conduced  to  it.  Epicurus  distinguished  higher  and  lower 
pleasures ;  sometimes  pain  should  be  endured  in  order  to 
lasting  pleasure.  He  tried  to  regulate  the  abounding 
passion  of  his  age  for  pleasure  by  applying  Aristotelian 
moderation  to  crude  Hedonism.  Epicureanism  furthered 
personahty  (1)  by  asserting  man's  freedom  ;  (2)  man  does 
not  really  want  the  gratification  of  isolated  desires  but 
peace  and  pleasure  for  his  whole  being. 

Sceptics 

The  Sceptics  likewise   invited   men   to   retire   to   the 
impregnable  fortress  of  their  inner  being  and  rest  in  sell 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  189 

They  negatived  the  possibility  of  knowledge ;  conviction  is 
unattainable.  Every  proposition  may  be  equally  well  sup- 
ported or  refuted.  They  cast  aside  all  dogma  except  that 
of  the  impossibiUty  of  certainty.  Man  must  rest  in  suspense 
of  judgment  about  objective  reahty,  and  content  himself 
with  his  subjective  consciousness.  Objective  consciousness 
is  illusory.  They  forgot  that  the  '  consciousness  of  self  is 
reahsed  only  with,  and  in  relation  to,  the  consciousness 
of  the  not-self  to  which  it  is  opposed,  and  that  if  we  could 
altogether  cancel  the  latter,  the  former  would  disappear 
with  it.'  1  The  Sceptics,  like  Bishop  Butler,  made 
ProbabiUty  the  guido  of  Ufe,  as  ancillaries  to  which  they 
offered  the  practical  wisdom  of  ancestors,  or  the  verdict 
of  the  majority  embodied  in  custom  and  law.  As  the 
schools  mitigated  their  extreme  positions.  Scepticism  toned 
down  its  dogma  of  the  impossibility  of  knowledge,  admitting 
degrees  of  probability,  and  interposing  a  kind  of  knowledge 
half-way  between  probability  and  certainty,  as  did  Philo 
of  Larissa.  Antiochus,  the  teacher  of  Cicero,  saw  that 
probabihty  implies  truth  as  a  standard,  and  that  certainty 
is  necessary  to  conduct.  He  found  truth  in  the  tenets 
common  to  the  different  schools,  and  thus  conducted 
Scepticism  over  to  Eclecticism.  The  school  was  revived 
under  Aenesidemus  and  his  pupils,  who  offered  two  addi- 
tional guides  of  conduct,  feehngs  and  experience. 

i 

Eclecticism 

Eclecticism,  '  the  creed  of  weary  minds,'  was  not  a 
school  but  a  mode  of  thought  running  through  all  the 
later  schools.  It  was  due  to  the  cosmopolitanism  of 
the  age,  the  lack  of  any  original  system,  the  penetrating 
criticism  of  Cameades  and  the  Sceptics,  the  practical 
demand  for  a  guide  of  conduct,  the  religious  tendency 
of  all  serious  schools,  and  lastly,  the  supremacy  of  the 

1  Caird,  Evolution  of  Theology  in  the  Greek  Philosophers,  ii.  126. 


190    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

practical  Romans.  We  find  this  syncretism  first  among 
the  Greek  schools,  and  then  in  the  blending  of  Greek  thought 
with  Oriental  mysticism.  Its  motto  was  the  Horatian 
nullius  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri.  The  result  of 
Eclecticism  was  a  general  acknowledgment  of  man's  in- 
nate moral  consciousness  as  confirmed  by  the  consensus 
gentium.  This  is  the  basis  of  conduct  and  responsibihty : 
man  is  bom  for  virtue,  with  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  apart 
from  education  and  beyond  demonstration.  Eclecticism 
diffused  a  craving  for  refigious  truth  and  certainty  which 
Christianity  was  to  meet.  Men  were  hesitating  on  the 
brink  of  knowledge  before  plunging  into  mysticism  :  the 
weary  spirit  was  incHned  to  ask  for  a  revelation.*  *  The 
era  of  subjective  and  individual  philosophy  was  brought 
to  an  end,  and  the  era  of  reUgious  philosophy  inaugurated.' 

NeO'Pythagoreanism 

The  Neo-Pythagoreans  were  the  precursors  of  Neo- 
Platonism.  They  disseminated  higher  ideas  of  God,  the 
immortahty  of  the  soul,  and  mysticism ;  they  held  that  sense 
and  reason  are  not  the  only  fountains  of  knowledge.  They 
made  philosophy  a  Hfe,  and  inculcated  ascetic  moraUty. 
Their  object  was  to  supply  a  rehgious  need.  They  looked 
to  Revelation  for  truth  and  to  sacramental  grace  for  help. 

Judaeo-Greek  Philosophy 

The  chief  representative  of  Judaeo-Greek  thought  is 
Ehjjlg,  in  whom  more  than  in  any  other  East  and  West 

1  •  Only  a  slight  impulse  was  needed  in  order  to  lead  the  spirit  in  its  search 
for  truth  beyond  the  limits  of  natural  knowledge  to  a  supposed  higher 
fountain.  This  impulse  Greek  thought  appears  to  have  received  through 
that  contact  with  Oriental  views  of  which  Alexandria  was  the  centre.  The 
main  part  on  the  Oriental  side  was  played  by  Judaism.  .  .  .  The  last  motive 
in  this  speculation  was  the  yearning  after  a  higher  revelation  of  truth  ;  its 
metaphysical  supposition  was  an  opposition  of  God  and  the  world,  of  spirit 
and  matter,  as  intermediaries  between  which  men  took  refuge  in  demons 
and  divine  powers.  Its  practical  consequence  was  a  combination  of  ethics 
and  religion  which  led  partly  to  asceticism  and  partly  to  the  demand  for  a 
direct  intuition  of  the  Deity.' — Zeller,  Outlines,  p.  305. 


YL]  THE  GREEK  191 

are  blended.  His  God  is  transcendent,  including  all  reality 
and  perfection,  self-sufficient,  the  source  of  Good  only. 
We  know  He  exists,  but  not  what  He  is  :  no  definite 
predicate  can  be  used  of  Him  ;  He  is  simply  the  I  AM. 
Philo,  as  a  Jew,  adhered  to  the  personaUty  and  moral 
attributes  of  God,  even  if  the  metaphysical  attributes 
landed  him  in  self-contradiction.  Over  against  God  in 
sharpest  contrast  stands  a  second  principle — matter,  the 
work  of  a  subordinate  deity.  To  bridge  the  chasm  Philo 
posits  a  galaxy  of  intermediaries — powers,  servants,  angels, 
ideas,  the  highest  of  which  is  the  Logos,  who  gives  God 
certainty  as  to  His  universe  and  man  hope  as  to  God's 
goodness.  He  is  the  ambassador,  the  image  of  God,  the 
first-bom  son  of  God,  a  second  God.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
Philo  endowed  the  Logos  with  personahty.  Man,  as  in 
Plato  and  the  Old  Testament,  is  a  fallen  creature ;  the 
body  is  evil  and  the  affections  are  to  be  eradicated.  Reason 
must  be  set  over  against  sense.  Evil  consists  in  escaping 
from  God  to  self ;  good  is  the  escape  from  self  to  God  to 
whom  man  is  akin.  Faith  and  Love  are  the  helps  of  the 
soul.  Salvation  is  the  rising  above  sense  and  inteUigence, 
even  above  the  Logos,  in  self-unconscious  ecstasy  to  behold 
the  pure  reahty  of  God.  '  The  attempt  to  go  beyond  con- 
scious thought  had  as  yet  been  unknown  in  Greek  philo- 
sophy. Even  after  Philo  two  centuries  elapsed  before  it 
was  an  accepted  dogma.'  *  '  Reason,'  says  Philo,  *  departs 
when  the  spirit  of  God  enters  the  soul,  and  returns  when 
the  spirit  departs.'  Man's  chief  end  is  not  the  reafisation 
of  man  as  man,  but  absorption  in  the  Divine.  Philo 
stated  the  problem  ^  which  Plotinus  professed  to  solve. 

1  Zeller,  Outlines,  p.  325. 

*  'If  he  has  not  solved  the  great  problem  of  his  time,  we  may  fairly  say 
that  he  first  stated  it  in  all  its  fulness.  ...  He  first  gave  utterance  to  both  of 
the  two  great  requirements  of  the  religious  consciousness,  the  need  for  rising 
from  the  finite  and  relative  to  the  Absolute,  and  the  need  of  seeing  the 
Absolute  as  manifested  in  the  finite  and  relative  ;  although  he  could  find  no 
other  reconciliation  of  these  two  needs  except  externally  to  subordinate  the 
latter  to  the  former.'— Caird,  ii.  208. 


192    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY    [ch. 

N  eo-Platonism 

The  founder  of  Neo-Platonism  was  the  Egyptian 
Plotinus.  This  system  is  Greek  thought  tinged  with 
Oriental  mysticism  ;  it  draws  from  Aristotle,  Stoicism, 
Philo,  but  its  largest  element  is  Platonism.  The  whole 
system  centres  round  the  idea  of  God.  God  is  to  Plotinus 
even  more  transcendent  than  to  Philo.  He  has  no  need 
of  the  world  or  man,  is  endowed  with  no  external 
motion  or  love.  He  is  apparently  not  endowed  with 
personahty ;  He  is  abstract  Thought,  pure  Subject,  the 
negation  of  all  that  is  finite,  unknowable.  The  world 
of  the  phenomenal  is  the  shadow  of  a  shadow  ;  it  is  not 
the  work  of  God,  and  indeed  God  takes  no  notice  of 
it.  How  then  account  for  the  world  at  all  ?  Plotinus 
could  surmount  this  difficulty  only  by  metaphors  :  the 
world  is  the  overflow  of  the  plenitude  of  the  One  or  the 
effluence  of  the  infinite,  as  heat  is  of  a  fire  ;  it  exists 
because  of  the  '  necessity  of  nature,'  that  '  Being  should 
produce  an  image  of  itself.'  Plotinus  closes  his  eyes  to 
the  unbridged  dualism,  though  he  too  posits  intermediaries 
such  as  Pure  Intelligence,  the  Soul  of  man,  or  the  Soul  of 
the  world.  Man  is,  as  to  Plato  and  Philo,  a  fallen  creature 
who  remembers  his  native  land  in  a  supersensuous  world, 
and  is  tortured  by  his  finiteness.  Escape  consists  in  rising 
above  self-consciousness  to  complete  absorption  in  the 
Infinite.  The  light  of  reason  is  extinguished,  says  Plotinus, 
when  the  soul  sees  God,  and  returns  when  the  vision  is  lost ; 
in  the  Vision  Beatific  the  '  soul  forgets  its  life  in  the  flesh 
and  forgets  even  itself.'  Personality,  which  dawned  with 
Socrates,  surrenders  its  pain  and  flees  from  its  perplexity 
to  a  Nirvana.  Its  cry  is  '  Oh,  that  this  too  too  solid  flesh 
would  melt.'  If  the  soul  is  not  lost  in  the  senses,  it  is 
absorbed  in  the  Infinite.  There  is  no  room  for  any  thought 
except  the  thought  of  God  :  the  soul  empties  itself  to  go 
to  God  empty,  but  never  to  be  filled ;   it  is  '  the  flight  of 


VI.]  THE  GREEK  193 

the  Alone  to  the  Alone.'  Plato  and  Philo  had  set  finite 
and  infinite  in  irreconcilable  antithesis  :  '  Plotinus  throws 
down  the  bar  between  finite  and  infinite.'  He  never 
dreams  of  the  reconciUation  of  subject  and  object  in  a 
higher  ideal  unity.  Man  is  nothing  because  God  is 
everything. 

Summary 

Neo-Platonism  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  Greek 
thought :  it  is  the  result  (and  the  failure)  of  Greek  (and 
Oriental)  duaUsm,  for  which  it  finds  no  solution  except 
the  absorption  of  the  lower  in  the  higher.  The  problem  of 
knowledge  had  for  over  a  thousand  years  agitated  the  Greek 
mind  ;  here  is  the  despair  of  knowledge  and  self-despair. 
The  trend  of  Greek  philosophy  was  from  concrete  to 
abstract,  from  phenomenal  to  reahty,  from  form  to  essence  ; 
here  all  things  are  deprived  of  essence  except  the  Absolute. 

Philosophy  had  raised  problems  which  only  refigious 
experience  could  solve  ;  Greek  thought  recognises  that 
there  is  a  world  beyond  knowledge  and  reason.  Know- 
ledge must  give  place  to  Revelation ;  the  heart  requires 
satisfaction  as  well  as  the  head.  Greek  thought  had  not 
laboured  in  vain  ;  it  had  victoriously  finished  its  course. 
Its  failure  was  its  success  by  assuring  men  that  there  must 
be  a  principle  of  harmony,  a  synthesis  of  life,  which  has  to 
be  sought  in  spiritual  experience.  Neo-Platonism  was 
the  last  determined  effort  of  Greek  thought  to  overcome 
duahsm  by  making  a  leap  toward  unity.  It  demanded 
the  rehgious  solution. 


N 


194    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  ROMAN 

Ut  inenarrabilis  gratiae  per  totum  mundum  difiFunderetur  effectus 
Romanum  regnum  divina  providentia  praeparavit. — Pope  Leo  the 
Great. 

The  Roman  world  forms  the  supremely  important  point  of  tran- 
sition to  the  Christian  religion,  the  indispensable  middle  term. — 
Hegel  {Philosophy  of  Religion). 

Early  Christian  writers  were  much  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  establishment  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the 
advent  of  Christianity  were  synchronous.  Christianity 
came  in  the  heyday  of  '  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome.' 
We  must  note  briefly  the  character  and  genius  of  those 
who  finished  the  preparation  of  the  world  for  Christ  and 
who  made  possible  the  spread  of  a  universal  religion. 

Roman  Character 

The  Romans  have  often  been  compared  with  the 
modem  EngUsh,  as  the  Greeks  with  the  French,  but 
this  comparison  goes  only  a  short  way.  There  was  a 
fierce  directness  and  intensity  in  the  Romans,  which  made 
their  character,  Uke  the  Hebrew,  one-sided.  A  large 
element  in  it  was  what  we  may  call  *  common  sense,'  a 
calculating  woridly  wisdom  without  any  tinge  of  ideahsm 
or  mysticism.  They  were  distinguished  for  gravitas — a 
combination  of  dignity  and  self-confidence — and  by  con- 
stantia — a  doggedness  and  steadfastness  of  character  which 
made  them  more  akin  to  the  Hebrew  than  to  the  Greek. 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  196 

Not  original  in  genius  but  prosaic,^  they  were  essentially 
conservatives  in  their  outlook  upon  the  world.  They  were 
an  official  people,  and  surely  the  originators  of  all  '  red- 
tape  '  systems.  Nothing  strikes  a  reader  of  their  constitu- 
tional history  so  much  as  their  immense  respect,  not  only 
for  law,  but  for  forms  and  formulae  :  the  masses  were 
often  checked  in  revolutionary  schemes  by  being  reminded 
of  prescribed  forms.  The  Greeks  marked  their  chronology 
by  the  Olympiads ;  the  Romans,  an  official  people,  by 
consulates.  They  prided  themselves  on  being  a  rehgious 
people — religiosissimi  mortales,  says  Sallust ;  many  Roman 
and  Greek  writers  attributed  the  greatness  of  Rome  to 
her  scrupulous  piety.  The  pius  Aeneas  was  supposed  to 
be  a  type  of  the  Latin  race.  Their  rehgion  was  pohtical : 
Hegel  treats  it  as  the  historic  example  of  a  rehgion  of 
utiUty.  They  were  bom  soldiers,  more  patriotic  than 
any  ancient  people,  and  zealous  of  mihtary  honour  :  dulce 
est  pro  patria  mori  is  a  constant  sentiment  in  their  Uterature. 
The  individual  Roman  was  but  a  Unk  with  a  glorious  past ; 
hence  the  worship  of  the  Manes  is  genuinely  Roman.  On 
a  thousand  battlefields,  and  for  a  longer  period  than 
any  other  people,  the  Romans  poured  out  ungrudgingly 
treasures  of  blood  for  the  Senatus  Populusque  Romanus  or 
the  Imperium  Romanum.  The  Roman  had  no  fear  of 
death.  The  Hebrew  could  die  because  he  Hved  in  his  race, 
and  later  because  of  faith  in  a  resurrection.  The  Greek, 
brave  in  battle,  regretted  death  as  taking  him  away  from 
this  dehghtful  world.  The  Roman  with  innate  Stoicism 
of  character  could  die  without  emotion  for  the  good  of  • 
Rome  :  '  the  martyr's  ecstasy  had  no  place  in  his  dying 
hour.'  He  had  a  keen  sense  of  duty.  The  Roman  sentinels 
whose  remains  were  found  at  the  gates  of  Pompeii  were  ^ 
tjrpes  of  their  race.  Like  most  peoples  who  have  made 
the  world  debtors,  the  Romans  were  self-conscious  and 

1  'Among  the  Romans  the  prose  of  life  makes  its  appearance— the  self- 
consciousness  of  finiteness.'— Hegel,  Phil,  of  Relig.,  p.  299. 


198    THE  ENVIRONMExNT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY    [ch. 

self-assertive.  Indomitable  pride  was  a  large  ingredient 
in  their  character.  Closely  connected  with  this  was  their 
aggressiveness  :  the  Roman  was  the  John  Bull  of  antiquity. 
Many  of  their  wars  were  pure  aggression,  but  the  Roman 
never  repented.  The  circumstances  of  his  early  history 
taught  him  self-control  and  self-reUance  :  he  prized  dis- 
ci pUne  ;  one  of  the  stones  found  in  the  Roman  wall 
between  England  and  Scotland  reads  'To  the  DiscipUne 
of  Augustus.'  The  habits  that  the  Roman  formed  as  an 
agriculturist  never  entirely  left  him.  In  the  city  he 
longed  for  his  country  villa  or  seaside  residence  to  enjoy 
his  well-earned  otium.  The  Roman  was  a  domestic  man, 
attached  to  home  and  wife  and  children.  The  Penates 
guarded  the  sanctity  of  marriage,  while  the  Vestals  stood 
for  the  purity  of  virginity :  no  ancient  history  supplies 
us  with  so  many  noble  matrons.  There  are  other  elements 
less  worthy  in  Roman  character.  They  were  materiaHsts  ; 
they  set  their  heart  on  power,  and  to  gain  the  world  they 
lost  their  soul.  They  cared  less  for  the  things  of  the  spirit 
than  did  Hebrews  and  Greeks.  Rapacity  and  greed  in 
the  acquisition  of  wealth  and  vulgar  ostentation  in  the  use 
of  it  was  a  common  feature  of  Roman  society.  Ill-gotten 
gain  undermined  character ;  power  engendered  over- 
weening pride  and  insolence.  There  was  also  an  ingrained 
coarseness  in  their  nature  which  the  culture  of  Hellas 
could  not  eradicate.  They  were  indifferent  to  culture 
until  they  came  to  Greece,  and  never  assimilated  its 
essence:  the  Roman  soldier  who  killed  Archimedes  was 
a  type  of  Rome.  The  most  repulsive  feature  of  the 
Romans  was  their  cold-blooded  callousness  to  suffering ; 
hence  their  delight  in  the  amphitheatre  where  the  groans 
of  dying  men  were  music  to  their  ears.  The  ruins  of 
amphitheatres  rise  up  against  them  in  judgment.  In  the 
Colosseum,  the  most  majestic  material  monument  of  Rome, 
thousands  of  men  died  to  make  a  Roman  hoHday.  They 
were  indifferent  even  to  their  own  lives,  so  that — especially 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  197 

in  the  closing  Republic  and  early  Empire — suicide  was 
frightfully  common.  The  Roman  always  reserved  the 
right  of  giving  his  own  quietus — patet  exitus. 

Genius 

The  genius  *  of  the  Romans  was  not  original  but  of  high 
mediocrity  (though  Rome  produced  perhaps  the  most 
wonderful  man  in  history — Caesar) ;  it  was  massive, 
consequently  its  most  characteristic  expression  was 
architecture,  which  combines  art  and  size.  The  Roman 
mind  was  not  subtle,  speculative,^  and  metaphysical  like 
the  Greek,  nor  intuitive  hke  the  Oriental,  but  docile  and 
concrete.  They  were  essentially  imitative,  and  good 
paymasters,  always  willing  to  borrow  or  steal  anything 
they  could  find  better  from  other  peoples,  be  it  gods, 
art,  or  philosophy.  They  proved  themselves  excellent 
organisers.  Order  was  their  first  law.  And  this  made 
them  unequalled  in  legislation.  As  the  Greeks  turned 
everything  into  an  art,  the  Romans  turned  what  interested 
them  into  an  institution  ;  they  made  their  rehgion  institu- 
tional as  the  Roman  Church  has  done  with  Christianity. 
They  were  intensely  practical,  rebus  natus  agendis;  they  were 
master  utiUtarians  especially  in  their  rehgion.  They  were 
thorough  in  their  work.  Cato  was  a  true  Roman  when  he 
closed  every  debate  with  censeo  delendam  esse  Carthaginem, 
and  it  was  destroyed.  In  their  devastations  they  were  very 
drastic ;  they  blotted  out  almost  without  a  trace  the  civihsa- 
tions  of  Etruria  and  Carthage,  annihilated  the  Samnites, 
burned  Corinth  and  Jerusalem  to  the  ground.  Their  build- 
ings were  built  for  all  time.  Some  of  the  streets  of  London 
are  old  Roman  roads,  many  of  their  bridges  are  still  stand- 

X      « Tu  regere  imperio  populos,  Romane,  memento, 
Ha«  tibi  erunt  artes,  pacisque  imponere  morem, 
Parcere  subjectis  et  debellare  superbos.' — Virg.,  Aen.,  vi.  851  fif. 
2  Cic.  {Ttise.,  ii.  1.  1),  cites  Ennius  as  saying,  '  philosophari  sibi  necesse 
esse,  aed  paucis :  nam  omnino  baud  placere  ' — a  genuine  Roman  sentiment. 


198    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

ing,  the  sewage  system  of  Timgad  is  in  wonderful  pre- 
servation. The  Cloaca  Maxima  (sewer)  in  Rome  is  still 
working  after  2500  years. 

Rise  of  the  Empire 

The  people  of  the  toga  extended  their  sway  until  the 
boundary  of  their  dominion  was  the  Euphrates  on  the  East, 
the  African  sands  on  the  South,  the  Rhine,  Danube,  and 
Scottish  Highlands  on  the  North,  the  Atlantic  on  the  West. 
The  RepubUc  conquered  almost  all  that  was  permanent 
Roman  territory.  The  task  of  the  Republic  was  to  conquer ; 
that  of  the  Empire  to  civilise,  conciliate,  and  unify.  The 
Mediterranean  was  converted  into  one  great  inland  Roman 
lake,  and  for  the  first  time  all  the  progressive  peoples  of 
the  world  lived  for  a  considerable  period  under  one  flag. 
Of  course,  the  extent  of  Roman  dominion  varied  from  time 
to  time,  especially  on  the  Southern  Rhine  and  in  North 
Britain,  on  the  Danube  (Dacia  was  not  permanently 
Roman)  and  the  Euphrates.  But  it  will  help  the  reader 
more  clearly  to  realise  its  extent  around  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era  to  say  that  it  covered  the  territory  of 
modem  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  south  of  England,  Hol- 
land, Belgium,  Switzerland,  Italy,  South-western  Austria, 
Southern  Germany,  Montenegro,  Servia,  Bulgaria,  part  of 
Roumania,  Greece,  Turkey  in  Europe,  and  nearly  all 
Turkey  in  Asia,  Egypt,  Tripoli,  Tunisia,  Algeria,  Morocco, 
or  a  territory,  roughly  speaking,  of  3000  miles  long  by 
2000  broad.  The  population  in  the  early  Empire  is  usually 
estimated  at  about  100,000,000,  and  under  the  Antonines 
probably  rose  to  150,000,000. 

The  establishment  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  the 
grandest  poUtical  achievement  of  any  era ;  *  it  was  the 
work  of  Rome's  greatest  man,  Caesar,  and  his  worthy 

1  This  section  is  condensed  from  the  writer's  article,  *  Roman  Empire  and 
Christianity/ in  International  Standard  BiM«  Encyclopaedia  (Chicago,  1914). 


vn.j  THE  ROMAN  199 

successor,  Augustus.  The  Empire  was  the  slow  result 
of  a  long  process.  The  social  conflicts  of  Rome  could 
find  no  solution  except  in  supreme  power  raised  above 
all  classes.  The  yoke  of  a  narrow,  selfish  oligarchy,  who 
endeavoured  to  control  poUtics,  rehgion,  social  interests, 
and  justice  itself,  grew  intolerable  to  the  commons. 
Internal  dissensions  were  settled  by  compromise  while 
external  dangers  threatened  the  Republic.  The  inevitable 
collision  came  in  the  days  of  the  Gracchi  over  the  division 
of  the  spoils  of  Attains,  King  of  Pergamus  (133  B.C.). 
Henceforth,  the  nobles  and  the  people,  oligarchy  and 
democracy,  are  engaged  in  bloody  conflict  until,  with  the 
election  of  the  first  princeps,  democracy  secured  the 
upper  hand,  and  in  the  hour  of  victory  surrendered  its 
rights  to  despotic  rule.  The  ancient  traditions  and 
institutions  had  been  undermined ;  the  nobility  were  too 
effete  and  selfish  to  administer,  the  people  too  corrupt 
to  elect  and  control  administration.  In  the  prevalent 
corruption  resulting  from  Roman  conquests  and  idleness, 
the  rich  had  become  richer  and  the  poor  poorer ;  a  sober 
middle  class  was  wanting  to  mediate  between  the  extremes 
of  society.  The  whole  social  equilibrium  was  upset. 
Justice  was  impossible  before  tribunals  in  the  hands  of  a 
privileged  class  accessible  to  bribes  and  jealous  to  protect 
their  own  order.  Elections  were  impossible  because  of 
bribery  and  faction  ;  nomination  by  a  supreme  power  was 
needed.  The  political  machinery  of  the  free  state  refused 
to  work  because  each  authority  checkmated  the  other.  Em- 
pire or  one-man  rule  was  the  triumph  of  the  individualism 
which  set  in  during  the  second  Punic  war ;  the  struggle 
of  individuals  could  only  result  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
Pohtical  parties  degenerated  into  factions  led  by  ambitious 
leaders  whose  aim  was  self-aggrandisement :  they  nomi- 
nated their  lieutenants  and  dictated  poHcy.  The  whole 
trend  was  toward  monarchy.  In  the  Republic  Cicero 
makes  Scipio  declare  for  monarchy.    There  was  a  universal 


200    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

thirst  for  power.  The  Senate  sought  a  succession  of 
extraordinary  commissions  for  its  members  :  the  tribunate 
of  C.  Gracchus  was  autocratic  enough.  When  Pompey 
received  a  command  in  Spain  he,  in  regal  fashion,  remained 
in  Italy  and  operated  through  legates.  There  was  a  general 
reluctance  to  lay  down  commands  ;  office  was  extended  to 
long  periods  or  repeatedly  conferred  ;  Marius  was  consul 
seven  times,  Sulla  five,  and  Cinna  three.  Prolonged  mihtary 
commands  accustomed  armies  to  their  generals,  to  whom 
they  transferred  the  allegiance  due  to  the  state.  The 
secret  of  empire  had  already  been  discovered  in  the  adher- 
ence of  strong  armies.  Too  often  civil  power  was  surren- 
dered into  the  hands  of  a  dictator,  as  to  Sulla  and  Caesar. 
When  one  man  could  not  have  his  own  way  he  combined 
with  colleagues,  as  in  the  triumvirates,  which  each  manipu- 
lated for  his  own  interest.  The  most  hopeless  feature 
of  this  period  was  that  miUtary  authority  secured  the 
ascendency  over  civil.  All  classes  and  parties  were 
exhausted  and  prepared  to  welcome  supreme  power. 
True  patriots  acclaimed  a  solution  that  promised  peace 
and  stabihty  to  society  :  the  large  numbers  of  traders 
and  small  merchants  and  freedmen  desired  peace  at  any 
cost.  The  oppressed  provincials  were  more  accustomed 
to  despotic  power,  and,  besides,  they  could  not  be  worse 
harassed  under  any  other  form  of  government ;  they 
sought  a  master  to  whom  they  could  appeal  against 
injustice.  Add  to  this  the  influence  of  the  Oriental  idea 
of  power  over  the  minds  of  Roman  rulers ;  the  emperors 
gradually  extended  their  autocracy  until  Diocletian  con- 
verted the  monarchy  into  an  Oriental  despotism.  The 
conquests  of  the  Republic  had  rendered  imperial  power 
a  necessity.  An  ohgarchy  engaged  in  perpetual  class 
conflict  at  home  was  not  fitted  to  rule  a  widely  scattered 
and  diverse  dominion.  The  variety  of  people  and  nations 
under  the  Roman  eagle  could  be  better  governed  under 
monarchical  rule,  just  as  the  Austro-Hungarian  and  the 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  201 

British  Empires  are  perhaps  better  held  together  under 
monarchy  than  under  any  other  form  of  government. 


Mission  of  Rome 

If  the  Empire  was  founded  in  aggression  and  bloodshed, 
it  can  hardly  be  disputed  that  it  proved  the  greatest 
blessing  to  its  subjects ;  its  establishment  was  hailed 
with  an  outburst  of  universal  applause.  Many  of  the 
Caesars  were  vicious  men,  but  they  were  unconsciously 
the  instruments  of  God's  purpose  in  history.  Rome, 
especially  the  Empire,  executed  a  large  mission  for  the 
ancient  world.  Its  rulers  are  an  illustration  of  the  saying 
of  Cromwell  that  we  never  rise  so  high  as  when  we  are 
unconscious  of  what  we  do.  The  mission  of  Rome  may  be 
thus  summarised : — 

1.  Rome  first  protected  the  West  against  the  East,  and 
then  kept  guard  in  both  West  and  East  while  Western  cul- 
ture and  Eastern  religions, especially  Christianity,  conquered 
her  Empire.  The  student  of  Greek  and  Roman  history  is 
famiUar  with  the  constant  Oriental  peril.  Greece  in  her 
day  stayed  it ;  with  a  political  or  mihtary  predominance 
of  the  East  the  centuries  would  have  passed  noiselessly 
over  us,  as  over  the  East,  without  setting  up  any  great 
landmarks  of  progress.  Carthage  was  the  first  Oriental 
power  with  which  Rome  came  in  conflict.  Every  school- 
boy is  distressed  that  his  hero  did  not  conquer  Scipio  at 
Zama,  until  he  later  comes  to  reaUse  what  the  spread  of 
Carthaginian  civilisation  over  the  Mediterranean  shores 
would  have  meant :  Zama  settled  the  future  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  of  Western  Europe.  The  Orient 
found  again  no  mean  champion  in  Mithridates  of  Pontus, 
who  was  finally  driven  back  by  Pompey.  The  question 
decided  in  the  Roman  civil  wars  at  Actium  was  whether 
the  Eastern  or  Western  half  of  the  Empire  should  hold 
the  sword ;  Actium  was  a  second  Zama.    Another  strong 


202    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Eastern  power  Rome  held  in  check  for  long,  Parthia,  until 
it  revived  as  a  Persian  power  under  the  Sassanides. 

The  East  had  always  exercised  a  curious  fascination 
over  Roman  minds.  From  the  days  of  Hadrian  it  was 
quite  evident  that  the  centre  of  gravity  was  shifting 
eastwards.  With  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Con- 
stantinople, that  became  an  accomplished  fact.  Roman 
emperors  had  previously  become  Eastern  monarchs. 
When  East  did  secure  the  ascendency  over  West,  Rome 
was  able  to  surrender  her  educating  and  civiUsing  mission 
to  an  Eastern  rehgion. 

2.  Rome  protected  and  extended  Greek  culture. 
Hellenism  was  so  closely  allied  to  Christianity  that  what 
Rome  did  for  Hellenism  she  did  for  Christianity.  It  was 
from  the  Greeks  that  the  Romans  acquired  a  taste  for  the 
things  of  the  spirit.  It  gave  new  vigour  to  exhausted 
Greece  to  find  the  mighty  Romans  sitting  at  her  feet  as 
pupils  and  imitators.  The  respect  with  which  Rome 
treated  Greek  culture  raised  its  value  over  the  Empire, 
and  Rome  opened  the  whole  world  to  the  intellectual 
conquests  of  Greece. 

3.  Rome  continued  and  forwarded  most  of  the  social 
and  political  work  of  Greece.  The  Greek  ideal  was  equal 
liberty  under  law  for  all.  Roman  statesmen  acquainted 
themselves  with  the  political  speculations  and  institutions 
of  Greece.  Rome  showed  how  men  could  live  in  large 
national  unities  and  in  one  Empire  under  justly  admini- 
stered laws.  They  learned  to  follow  the  logic  of  facts  better 
than  the  Greeks  could  ever  have  done.  They  contributed 
toward  the  solution  of  many  social  problems  which  agitated 
Greece :  they  slowly  extended  the  franchise  and  made 
conquered  people  and  even  slaves  Romans.  They  fought 
out  to  the  bitter  end  the  strife  of  classes  versus  masses 
until  an  overlord  led  the  latter  to  victory.  But  the 
Romans  were  not  so  democratic  as  the  Greeks,  because 
they  were  not  so  well  educated  and  were  more  content 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  203 

with  formulae.  The  Roman  constitution  was  theoretically 
democratic  but  practically  oligarchical.  Ohgarchy  main- 
tained a  tyranny  through  Republican  history,  and  in 
the  Empire  gave  place  to  despotism.  These  political 
considerations  are  of  importance  for  the  democratic 
organisation  of  early  Christianity. 

4.  The  more  immediate  mission  of  the  Empire  was  to 
consohdate  and  civilise,  to  call  order  out  of  social  chaos, 
to  restore  peace  and  security  to  society.  Rome  had  a 
genius  for  order  and  organisation.  Had  the  civil  strife 
been  protracted  much  longer,  the  whole  fabric  of  ancient 
society  must  have  fallen  hopelessly  to  pieces  and  the  newly 
conquered  provinces  lapsed  into  anarchy.  For  centuries 
Rome  had  been  engaged  in  ruthless  conquests.  She  had 
pulled  down  ;  now  she  must  build  up.  The  Empire  gave 
a  weary  world  a  period  of  rest  and  recuperation  from 
untold  suffering  and  social  upheavals.  She  first  removed 
the  causes  of  quarrelling  by  wiping  out  old  prejudices,  by 
preventing  class  from  making  reprisal  upon  class ;  she 
forbade  nations  to  go  to  war,  and  removed  diversity  of 
governments ;  she  put  an  end  to  the  bitterness  of  city 
rivalry  and  extended  means  of  communication. 

The  justly  celebrated  Roman  peace — pads  Bomanae 
majestas — was  the  first  world-peace,  lasting  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years.  The  whole  civiHsed  world  was  prac- 
tically at  rest  when  Christianity  appeared.  After  centuries 
of  commotion,  life  could  resume  its  normal  course  and 
men  could  devote  themselves  to  the  works  of  peace  and  to 
the  demands  of  their  inner  life.  The  Romans  were  the 
harbingers  of  the  '  peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,'  of 
the  Evangel.  The  temple  of  Janus  was  closed  three  times 
during  the  reign  of  the  first  emperor,  and  an  Ara  Pacts 
was  erected  in  Rome  13  B.C.  This  peace  was  '  settled 
peace,  too,  such  as  never  came  again  till  after  Waterloo,' 
and  an  inestimable  boon  to  that  exhausted  world.  Had 
a  lasting  peace  not  been  restored,  ancient  society  would 


204    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

have  been  engulfed  before  it  had  fulfilled  its  historic 
function.^  All  who  represented  the  traditions  of  the  past 
would  have  been  wiped  out,  and  thus  a  steadying  principle 
lost.  But  for  this  peace,  that  bankruptcy  which  overtook 
the  later  Empire  would  have  come  three  centuries  too 
early.  The  provinces  were  exhausted  by  the  armies 
billeted  on  them,  by  compulsory  contributions,  huge  im- 
posts for  revenue,  by  the  decimating  and  shifting  of  the 
population ;  their  lands  were  untilled,  their  implements 
removed,  their  buildings  in  ruins,  their  sons  drafted  into 
the  AuxiUaries  or  killed  in  Roman  quarrels.  Roman 
peace  at  least  postponed  threatening  calamity.  Agriculture 
revived ;  the  wilderness  was  reclaimed,  for  the  Roman 
could  turn  the  desert  into  a  garden.  The  second  century 
A.D.  was  probably  the  happiest  era  of  the  old  world.  In 
peace  enormous  cash  came  again  into  circulation  ;  bullion 
and  coin  concealed  in  civil  commotion  now  furnished 
employment.  This  money  was  sent  back  to  the  provinces 
to  pay  Roman  troops  or  to  meet  vast  orders  of  luxuries. 
All,  except  those  needed  for  garrison  duty,  returned  to 
the  productive  labours  of  peace  :  the  Romans,  like  the 
British,  governed  by  prestige  and  authority  and  not  by 
large  garrisons  :  an  army  of  about  300,000  men  guarded 
a  territory  now  guarded  by  millions.  Commerce  revived 
under  the  aegis  of  peace.  The  Mediterranean,  cleared  of 
pirates,  was  a  safer  highway  of  trade  and  travel  than  at 

1  Virgil  could  well  say,  'Deus  nobis  haec  otia  fecit.'  The  Halicarnassus 
inscription  hails  Augustus  as  'Saviour  of  the  whole  human  race  whose 
providence  fulfilled  and  surpassed  the  prayers  of  all '  {auTrjpa  rov 
Koivov  tQp  dvdp(I)Tr(i)v  y^vovs  oS  97  irpbvoia  rds  Trdvrcav  eix'^^  °^'^  eTrXrjpbiat 
aWa  Kal  ireprjpev).  Another  inscription  says  of  the  same  emperor,  'he 
gave  a  new  aspect  to  the  world  that  would  gladly  hare  perished '  (eripav  re 
l^WKev  vavrl  Tip  K6<TfM(p  ijSiaTa  &v  Se^ap-^vip  <f>dopcu>).  Cf.  Origen  citing 
Melito  (c.  Gelsum,  ii.  30).  '  In  the  days  of  Jesus  righteousness  arose  and 
fulness  of  peace  ;  it  began  with  his  birth.  God  prepared  the  nations  for  his 
teaching  by  causing  the  Roman  emperor  to  rule  over  all  the  world ;  there 
was  no  longer  to  be  a  plurality  of  kingdoms,  else  would  the  nations  have 
been  strangers  to  one  another,  and  so  the  Apostles  would  have  found  it 
harder  to  carry  out  the  task  laid  on  them  by  Jesus  when  he  said,  "Go  and 
teach  all  nations  " '  (cited  in  Harnack,  Mission,  i.  20). 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  205 

any  time  up  to  the  middle  of  last  century.  Peace  gave  an 
impetus  to  intellectual  and  moral  life.  Men  exchanged 
not  only  material  but  spiritual  wares.  In  the  period  of 
turmoil  man's  interest  centred  upon  his  very  existence, 
ilUcit  paths  to  self-aggrandisement  were  many,  and  every 
man's  hand  was  against  his  brother ;  but  now  that  the 
laws  of  society  were  again  vindicated,  men  had  leisure  to 
direct  attention  to  the  needs  of  the  inner  Ufe.  Under 
Augustus  there  was  a  reUgious  revival. 

5.  Rome  not  only  restored  order  but  she  unified  the 
world  and  blended  the  nations  in  preparation  for  the 
Gospel :  ^  all  Uved  together  under  her  roof.  It  was  a  dis- 
covery to  find  that  men  of  every  race  and  nation,  of  every 
degree  of  culture,  and  of  social  distinction,  could  live  to- 
gether in  peace.  All  civilised  peoples  practically  lived  under 
one  rule.  Augustus  erected  a  golden  milestone  in  the  Forum 
as  the  world's  centre.  Never  had  the  happiness  or  misery 
of  humanity  so  depended  on  the  decisions  of  a  single  will 
in  one  centre.  CosmopoHtanism  reached  its  acme  in  the 
Empire :  the  world  was  one  commonwealth.  The  Romans, 
though  they  refused  home  rule  to  the  provinces,  were 
tolerant  of  their  traditions,  customs,  religion,  and  a  certain 
degree  of  local  autonomy.  With  few  exceptions,  and  those 
in  the  interest  of  good  government,  Rome  left  every  man  to 
his  gods  and  maintained  the  tolerant  pohcy  inaugurated 
by  Alexander.  The  RepubHcan  poficy  conceded  no  rights 
to  the  conquered.  Caesar  inaugurated  a  conciliatory 
policy  toward  the  conquered,  and  was  the  first  Roman  to 
dream  of  extending  Roman  rights  and  citizenship  to  all. 
Under  the  Empire  the  more  Uberal  policy  was  carried  out. 
The  gulf  between  Romans  and  provincials  was  gradually 
bridged  until  Caracalla  granted  citizenship  to  all  the  free 
inhabitants.    The  Empire  and   the  Church  were  simul- 

1  W.  T.  Arnold  note*  that  the  two  centrifugal  forces  in  the  Empire  were 
(1)  the  essential  differcBce  between  East  and  West,  and  (2)  the  new  religion- 
Christianity. 


206    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [CH. 

taneously  aiming  at  universalism.  The  place  of  Rome  as 
the  centre  of  the  world  to  which  all  roads  led,  the  presence 
of  the  ubiquitous  Roman  authorities,  the  Uving  symbol 
of  power  in  the  emperor,  the  imperial  cult,  the  elevation 
of  provincial  and  non-Roman  emperors,  the  increasing 
numbers  of  Romanised  f  reedmen,  Roman  law  and  language, 
the  extension  of  Roman  citizenship — all  worked  for  the 
unification  of  mankind. 

The  Roman  did  not — could  not — complete  the  work 
of  unification  which  is  still  a  dream.  It  behoves  us, 
trammelled  by  the  traditions  of  feudalism,  to  criticise 
leniently  Roman  efforts  to  make  the  world  a  good  place 
to  live  in.  After  Rome's  work  of  pacification  there  still 
remained  the  antithesis  of  bond  and  free.  The  poor  and 
hungry  masses  are  with  us  as  they  were  with  the  Romans. 

6.  Rome  protected  what  is  now  modem  civilisation 
against  the  irruptions  of  the  Northern  barbarians,  until 
they,  educated  by  her  law  and  language  and  impressed 
with  her  greatness,  became  docile  pupils  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  with  their  unspent  energies  took  up  the  inherit- 
ance of  Rome  to  pass  it  on  to  later  generations.  But  for 
Rome,  the  Parthians,  Saracens,  and  Ottomans  on  the  East, 
and  the  barbarians  on  the  North  might  have  blotted  out 
modem  civilisation.  Rome  thus  proved  the  Hnk  between 
the  old  and  the  new,  and  passed  on  to  us  '  the  long  results 
of  time.'  Augustine  says  of  the  Roman  Empire  siLa  se 
magnitudine  fregity  but  from  its  ruins  arose  modem 
civihsation. 

7.  Rome  not  only  rescued  the  West,  but  she  civiHsed 
and  prepared  it  for  Christianity  as  Greece  had  done 
the  East.  Though  Rome  conquered  the  East  she  was 
Hellenised  there.  In  the  West  she  came  in  contact  with 
inferior  civiHsations  which  she  Romanised  by  impressing 
upon  them  her  language,  laws,  and  institutions.  What 
Greece  had  done  for  her  she  in  turn  did  for  the  W^est. 
Her  language  lives  in  the  Romance  tongues,  her  laws  in 


vn.]  THE  ROMAN  207 

all  Western  codes.  While  Christianity  was  spreading  in 
the  riper  Eastern  section,  Rome  was  preparing  the  West 
for  the  Gospel,  teaching  barbarians  respect  for  authority, 
imparting  a  taste  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  things, 
building  bridges  and  roads,  and  supplying  Christianity 
with  a  uniform  language.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
Christianity  came  to  the  West — to  Rome  and  South  Gaul 
— in  Greek  and  to  Greek  communities,  but  after  this  initial 
stage  the  Christian  preachers  were  able  to  penetrate  the 
West  on  the  tracks  of  Roman  civiUsation. 

8.  To  catalogue  the  material  benefits  conferred  on  the 
world  by  Rome  is  beyond  the  purpose  of  this  book.  Rome's 
spiritual  weapon  was  her  law  :  she  kept  order  and  acted 
as  poHceman  while  the  emissaries  of  the  Cross  preached. 
Rome  did  much  in  commonplace  and  material  things. 
She  kept  untiring  watch  on  the  Nile,  Euphrates,  Danube, 
and  Rhine.  She  built  roads  and  erected  bridges  for  the 
heralds  of  the  Cross  ;  she  spared  no  toil  in  building  aque- 
ducts to  carry  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  water  to  cities  ; 
she  introduced  sanitary  arrangements  which — as  Timgad 
shows — are  thoroughly  modern.  If  Rome  could  ruthlessly 
destroy  she  could  also  turn  the  desert  into  a  garden. 
TraveUing  through  North  Africa,  one  finds  abundant  proof 
that  Rome  was  a  blessing  to  those  provinces  which  have, 
until  recently,  lain  waste.  Remains  of  Roman  villas 
and  baths  with  mosaics  are  found  in  regions  where  for 
miles  there  are  now  only  nomad  tents.  The  same  is  true 
of  Syria  and  Asia  Minor. 

9.  The  Roman  Empire  formed  the  poHtical  framework 
for  Christianity.  Here  was  a  universal  Empire  cr5ang  out 
for  a  universal  religion.  The  Judaic  section  of  the  early 
Church  would  have  rendered  Christianity  merely  a  reformed 
Judaism.  It  was  a  Roman  citizen,  who  appreciated  the 
Empire,  that  enthusiastically  supported  in  a  Greek  city  the 
mission  to  the  nations.  The  Empire  was  a  standing 
challenge   to   Christianity :    it  enlarged   the   horizon   of 


208    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Christian  missionaries.  Surely  Christ  must  reign  over  a 
dominion  as  wide  as  that  of  Caesar.  If  the  Empire  em- 
braced all  men,  why  should  Christianity  aim  at  less  ?  With 
but  few  faint  and  uncertain  traditions  (as  that  of  Thomas 
and  Bartholomew  in  India,  and  of  Thomas  in  Parthia), 
the  activity  of  Christian  preachers  lay  wholly  within  the 
Empire,  because  the  Empire  was  practically  synonymous 
with  humanitas — the  genus  humanum.  There  were  three 
determining  factors  in  the  spread  of  early  Christianity : 
(a)  the  Jewish  settlements  of  the  Diaspora ;  (6)  the  area 
in  which  Greek  was  spoken,  and  (c)  the  centres  of  popula- 
tion and  Roman  administration  on  the  great  Roman  roads ; 
these  three  usually  coincided.  Christianity  gained  its 
first  foothold  in  Europe  in  two  Roman  colonies — PhiHppi, 
which  was  so  Roman  that  it  had  no  Jewish  synagogue, 
and  Corinth,  refounded  by  Caesar. 


vm.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  209 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Die  Bibel,  deren  Gott  Jahveh  heisst,  ist  die  Bibel  eines  Volkes ; 
die  Bibel  deren  Gott  tcvpios  heisst,  ist  die  Weltbibel. — Deissmaijn. 

First  International  Tongues 

A  UNIVERSAL  Empire  and  a  universal  religion  demanded 
a  universal  language.  Nationalities  were  so  mixed  and 
blended  that  a  common  linguistic  medium  was  a  necessity. 
The  question  of  a  universal  language,  natural  or  artificial, 
did  not  at  first  concern  the  ancients.  Yet  we  know  of 
early  international  languages.  Egypt  and  Assyria  seem 
to  have  been  the  first  to  need  such  a  medium.  In  the 
Tel-el-Amama  tablets  (about  1400  B.C.),  we  have  the 
diplomatic  correspondence  in  old  Babylonian  of  the 
Pharaohs  Amenophis  ni.  and  iv.  with  the  kings  of  Assyria, 
Babylonia,  Mitani  (Mesopotamia),  and  Cyprus,  and  the 
Egyptian  officials  and  vassals  in  Canaan. 

The  Persian  Empire  stretching  from  the  Indus  to  the  Nile 
was  without  a  uniform  language  for  its  dominions  :  the 
old  Babylonian  stiU  maintained  a  place  in  the  centre  of 
the  former  Babylonian  Empire.  Old  Persian  was  made 
the  court  language — the  language  in  which  the  Behistun 
rock  memorials  are  carved.  But  westwards  from  the 
Euphrates  Aramaic  was  adopted  as  the  official  language, 
and  became  the  first  international  tongue.  It  dislodged 
the  sacred  language  in  Palestine,  was  spoken  by  the  Eastern 
Diaspora,  was  used  by  Egyptian  officials,  and  is  found  in 

o 


210    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

the  Jewish  papyri  of  Elephantine.  Aramaic,  however, 
never  spread  beyond  the  Orient,  and  never  took  root  in 
Indo-Germanic  soil.  It  is  to  the  Greeks  we  owe  the 
language  that  was  not  only  the  international  bond  of  the 
Orient  but  the  first  medium  for  East  and  West. 

But  the  tongue  spoken  by  the  people  caUing  themselves 
Hellenes  was  for  long  by  no  means  a  unity.  It  was  broken 
up  into  dialects  as  distinct  from  one  another  as  are  the 
present  Romance  tongues.  How  did  a  worid-speech  arise 
out  of  these  dialects  ? 

The  Koini 

Several  causes  contributed  toward  a  common  Greek 
language.  The  increasing  cosmopohtanism  defied  dialects ; 
the  breaking  up  of  Greek  autonomy  and  exclusiveness  ren- 
dered men  more  interested  in  other  Greek  clans.  The  Greek 
genius  for  commerce,  the  hosts  of  mercenaries,  the  stan- 
dardising of  Attic,  all  pointed  to  a  common  tongue.  But 
the  mightiest  factor  was  the  campaigns  of  Alexander.  He 
united  Greece,  then  amalgamated  Greek  and  Macedonian, 
with  them  conquered  the  East  and  opened  it  up  to  Greek 
language  and  culture.  In  his  army  Greeks  from  all  parts 
met :  they  no  longer  regarded  themselves  as  Athenians, 
Spartans,  or  Boeotians,  but  Hellenes.  And  Greek  was  the 
only  linguistic  medium  which  Alexander  found  available 
to  govern  his  vast  territory.  He  planted  Greek  colonies 
everywhere,  in  which  Greek  clans  and  Macedonians  side  by 
side  with  Orientals  needed  a  common  language.  As  unity 
was  thus  impressed  on  Greece  from  without,  and  the  world 
opened  to  her  culture  and  enterprise,  the  dialects  which 
represented  her  exclusiveness  gave  way  to  a  Koini  from 
the  fourth  century  B.C.  onwards.  Thus  arose  that  Greek 
language  known  as  the  Koini,  i.e.  '  common  language,' 
or  Hellenistic  Greek — the  language  in  which  the  New 
Testament  is  written  and  in  which  the  Gospel  was  first 


vm.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  211 

carried  to  the  nations.  This  Koine  is  built  on  the  basis 
of  Attic  with  contributions  from  the  various  other  dialects.^ 
The  language  of  the  New  Testament  ^  and  of  eariy  Chris- 
tianity is  predominantly  the  vernacular  spoken  language 
as  distinguished  from  the  hterary  Koini  of  writers  Uke 
Josephus  and  Polybius. 

Greek  was  the  lingua  franca  of  the  eastern  part  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  the  language  of  culture,  commerce, 
diplomacy  and  administration.  The  spread  of  the  Greek 
language  was  a  very  favourable  circumstance  for  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Under  Alexander  and  the 
Diadochi,  Greek  not  only  strengthened  its  position  on  the 
sea-coast,  but  penetrated  inland  in  Egypt  and  in  Asia 
Minor.  Every  new  Greek  foundation  was  a  centre  of 
Hellenism.  The  Greeks,  Uke  the  modem  EngHsh-speaking 
peoples,  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  learn  foreign  languages : 
they  obUged  foreigners  to  learn  Greek.  When  the  Roman 
appeared  in  the  East,  Greek  was  too  firmly  rooted  to  be 
dislodged :  though  Roman  pride  could  recognise  only 
Latin  as  the  ofl&cial  speech,  they  found  in  Greek  a  useful 
bond  and  ally  of  their  administration.  A  Greek  transla- 
tion appeared  along  with  Latin  ofl&cial  documents  :  the 
Latin  was  always  the  original,  as  Roman  ofl&cials  would 
not  deign  to  issue  Greek  documents  and  then  make  transla- 
tions from  them. 


Importance  of  Greek 

It  was  not  by  accident  that  Christianity  appeared  at 
the  one  time  in  history  when  Greek  was  the  sole  interna- 
tional medium  for  all  the  civiHsed  peoples  of  the  Empire. 
It  was  the  first  moment  in  history  when  all  men  could  easily 
exchange  thought.    The  spread  of  Greek  neutrahsed  the 

1  Cf.  Thumb,  D.  grieeh.  Sprache,  ch.  iii. 

*  Cf.  the  writer's  article,  '  The  Koin6,  the  Language  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment,*  in  Princeton  Theological  Bevicic,  Jan.  1910. 


212    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

confusion  of  Babel.  And  Greek  was  the  language  in  which 
an  Aramaic  Gospel  became  a  world-evangel :  all  the 
missionary  activity  of  early  Christianity  was  practically 
confined  to  Greek-speaking  people.  The  early  missionaries 
did  not  learn  the  enchoric  vernaculars,  and  apparently 
attempted  no  peasant  mission  :  they  probably  regarded 
the  Parousia  as  too  imminent,  or  recognised  that  if  the 
Greek-speaking  peoples  were  Christianised  the  Kingdom 
would  soon  come  among  the  rest.  Further,  it  was  in  Greek 
soil  that  Christianity  took  at  first  its  firmest  root,  and  on 
Greek  territory  it  carried  on  its  most  active  propaganda, 
and  by  means  of  Greek  secured  its  first  footing  in  the 
West.  Such  considerations  show  us  how  important  and 
indeed  necessary  for  the  success  of  Christianity  was  the 
spread  of  Greek.  It  would  hardly  be  fair  to  attribute  the 
rapid  spread  of  Christianity  merely  to  the  fact  that  all 
spoke  Greek.  As  Mahafify  remarks,  wherever  Greek  was 
spoken  or  known  it  was  accompanied  by  a  certain  amount 
of  Greek  culture  and  Greek  thought,  the  needs  and  the 
ideals  of  the  Greek  spirit.  That  the  Gospel  was  so 
successful  on  Greek  territory  proves  therefore  that  not 
only  the  Greek  tongue  but  the  indefatigable  efforts  of  the 
Greek  spirit  prepared  the  way  for  Christ — if  in  no  other 
way  than  by  raising  problems  which  only  Christianity  could 
solve,  and  by  giving  clear  expression  to  needs  that  only 
Christianity  could  satisfy.  It  is  worth  while  to  dwell 
briefly  on  the  expansion  of  Greek  and  the  influence  which 
it  exercised. 

Spread  of  Greek 

It  is  significant  that  the  most  Hellenistic  book  in  the 
New  Testament — the  Fourth  Gospel — tells  us  that  when 
Jesus  learned  that  some  Greeks  had  expressed  the  wish  '  we 
would  see  Jesus,'  He  answered,  '  the  hour  is  come  that  the 
Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified.'  This  was  tantamount  to 
a  confession  that  if  the  Greek  world  accepted  Him  the  whole 


vui.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  213 

world  would  follow.  Cicero  in  62  B.C.  says,  '  if  anyone 
thinks  he  will  reap  less  fruit  of  glory  from  Greek  verses 
than  from  Latin  he  is  totally  mistaken  ;  for  Greek  is  read 
by  practically  the  whole  world,  while  Latin  is  confined  to 
its  own  territory,  which  is  narrow  indeed.'  Throughout 
the  East  Greek  was  so  well  known  that  the  Romans  were 
obliged  and  even  glad  to  accept  it  as  a  means  of  administra- 
tion. An  encychcal  letter  (1  Peter),  addressed  to  Jewish 
Christians  of  the  Diaspora  '  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappa- 
docia,  Asia  and  Bithynia,'  was  written  in  Greek.  Paul 
addressed  Roman  Christians  in  Greek,  and  the  author  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  uses  the  world-language.  The 
Jerusalem  mob  expected  Paul  to  address  them  in  Greek 
(Acts  xxi.).  Justin  Martyr  of  Shechem  knew  no  Hebrew 
or  Aramaic,  and  uses  only  the  Septuagint.  An  Ethiopian 
eunuch  read  a  Hebrew  prophet  in  a  language  that  Philip, 
a  Hellenist,  easily  recognised  ;  he  was  reading  the  fifty- 
third  chapter  of  Isaiah.  In  the  grammar-schools  of  the 
West  Greek  was  taught  beside  Latin,  while  in  the  East 
apparently  Latin  was  not  taught  beside  Greek. 

In  Rome  and  Italy  Greek  was  well-known.  Horace 
complains  that  '  captive  Greece  led  captive  babarous 
Rome.'  From  the  second  century  B.C.  Rome  fell  more  and 
more  under  the  speU  of  Greece.  Romans  sent  their  sons 
to  Greek  universities,  or  retained  Greek  tutors  for  their 
children,  and  private  Greek  chaplains  as  moral  directors 
in  their  homes.  Greek  literary  slaves  fetched  large  prices. 
Greek  artists,  architects,  and  less  honourable  professions 
found  abundant  employment  in  Rome.  The  medical 
profession  was  almost  entirely  Greek.  Roman  libraries 
consisted  largely  of  Greek  books.  The  Roman  theatre 
imitated  Greek  models  in  its  best  days.  Latin  was  forged 
into  a  literary  language  on  Greek  models.  The  earliest 
historians  of  Rome,  Fabius  Pictor  and  Alimentus,  wrote  in 
Greek.  Cicero  testifies  that  about  the  beginning  of  the 
first  century  B.C.  Italy  was  full  of  Greek  arts  and  learning. 


214    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

The  grandest  characters  of  Rome  were  moulded  and  con- 
soled by  a  Greek  religious  philosophy,  Stoicism ;  the  less 
spiritual  had  recourse  to  the  Hcence  and  negations  of 
another  Greek  philosophy,  Epicureanism.  Cato  Uticensis 
died  by  his  own  hand  after  reading  the  PTmedo,  The  elder 
Cato,  an  opponent  of  everything  un-Roman,  learned  Greek 
in  his  old  age  lest  the  god  of  the  lower  world  should  not 
understand  Latin.  Marius's  ignorance  of  Greek  is  noted 
as  exceptional  by  Plutarch.  A  Roman  emperor  penned  his 
self-analysis  in  Greek.  Juvenal  speaks  of  the  Greeks  as 
a  gens  acceptissima  to  the  wealthy  Romans,  and  com- 
plains '  non  possum  ferre,  Quirites,  |  Graecam  Urbem.' 
He  vents  his  spleen  on  the  Graecula  wife  who  does  not 
care  to  know  Latin,  but  expresses  her  fears,  wrath,  joys, 
cares,  and  all  the  secrets  of  the  heart  in  Greek  {Sat.  vi., 
184  ff.).  Greek  love- terms  were  in  vogue  among  the 
Romans,  and  Roman  lovers  often  employed  Greek  to 
set  forth  their  lady's  charms.  Roman  statesmen  and 
generals  often  carried  to  the  field  a  Greek  philosopher  as 
a  war  correspondent.  Foreign  lecturers  Uke  the  Egyptian 
Plotinus  would  lecture  in  Greek  at  Rome.  The  Greek 
towns  throughout  southern  Italy  created  a  Greek  atmo- 
sphere. It  was  not  Italy  but  Africa  or  Syria  ^  that  first 
demanded  a  Latin  Bible. 


Greek  in  the  Diaspora 

The  attitude  of  the  Jews  toward  Greek  culture  and 
language  is  important  for  the  history  of  Christianity. 
Here  we  must  distinguish  those  of  the  Diaspora  from  those 
of  Palestine.  Those  of  the  extreme  eastern  Dispersion 
in  Babylonia  and  the  Euphrates  region  spoke  an  eastern 
Aramaic,  and  there  up  to  late  times  rabbinic  schools 
flourished.     In   the   countries   of  Asia   Minor  as  far  as 

1  A  good  case  for  Syria  (Antioch)  is  made  by  H.  A.  A.  Kennedy  in  The  Old 
Latin  Versions,  Hastings'  D.  B. ,  iii.  54  S. 


vnL]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  215 

Mesopotamia,  inscriptions  prove  that  the  Jews  spoke 
Greek :  we  have  similar  evidence  for  the  Crimea.  In 
Egypt  where  the  LXX  was  called  for,  and  where  Jewish 
writers  used  Greek,  the  common  language  of  the  Jews  was 
Greek,  as  also  in  Gyrene  and  Crete.  In  the  Aegean  islands 
their  language  was  also  Greek,  as  we  infer  from  the  Rheneia 
and  other  inscriptions.  Their  tombstones  in  Rome  prove 
that  there  they  spoke  Greek.  Hebrew  is  not  found  on 
Jewish  tombstones,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  if  the  sacred 
language  had  been  at  all  famihar  we  should  find  it  there. 
The  language  of  the  Jewish  Dispersion  was  the  universal 
language.  All  the  relics  of  Diaspora  writing  from  the  last 
centuries  B.C.  are  in  Greek.  Greek  was  the  language  of 
their  commerce,  tombstones,  propaganda.  Scriptures,  even 
of  their  prayers  and  synagogue  worship.  That  Greek  was 
the  language  of  their  synagogue  and  worship  is  most 
striking,  for  men  are  most  conservative  in  holy  things. 
Yet  this  may  be  accepted  as  an  estabHshed  fact  in  opposi- 
tion to  Lightfoot  and  others.  '  The  language  of  the 
worship  (in  the  synagogue)  was,  as  a  rule,  without  doubt 
Greek,'  says  Schiirer.  The  very  fact  of  the  enormous 
success  of  the  Jewish  propaganda  compels  us  to  suppose 
that  it  was  carried  on  in  Greek.  We  find  Paul  addressing 
in  the  synagogues  IsraeUtes  and  God-fearing  heathen 
whose  common  language  was  Greek.  Besides,  the  Jews 
in  their  proselytising  zeal  would  not  be  Hkely  to  use  an 
unknown  tongue  in  the  synagogue,  the  fulcrum  of  their 
proselytising.  That  the  LXX  was  the  Diaspora  Bible  and 
used  in  the  synagogue  services  is  testified  by  several 
Church  Fathers.  The  two  inscriptions  from  Rheneia, 
the  island  burying-place  of  Delos,  show  that  the  LXX 
was  the  Bible  of  the  Diaspora  there  as  early  as  100  B.C. 
If  the  Hebrew  text  was  used  in  the  synagogue  it  was 
paraphrased  into  Greek.  It  is  also  altogether  unfikely 
that  the  scattered  Jews  surrounded  by  those  speaking  the 
universal  language,  and  always  ready  to  leam  from  the 


216    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

Greeks  in  everything  that  did  not  touch  upon  religion, 
should  desire  or  be  able  to  maintain  their  home  language 
in  which  they  could  not  communicate  with  outsiders. 
Paul,  though  educated  at  Jerusalem,  is  famiUar  with  the 
Old  Testament  only  in  the  LXX.  Zahn  is  surely  mis- 
taken in  arguing  from  the  word  Ahha  that  Aramaic  was 
the  language  of  his  prayers  ;  the  word  was  used  like  Pater 
noster  among  us,  and  Paul  follows  it  up  immediately  with 
the  Greek  equivalent.  Cleomedes  refers  to  the  bad  Greek 
used  in  the  synagogue.  The  translating  of  the  Hebrew 
text  into  Greek  was  imiversally  allowed.  One  exclusive 
authority  forbids  the  Torah  to  be  translated  into  any 
language  except  that  of  the  Javanim,  i.e.  Greeks. 

Greek  in  Palestine 

The  home-keeping  Palestinian  Jew  was  more  conserva- 
tive. But  Palestine  forming,  as  it  were,  the  pivot  of  East 
and  West,  could  not  effectually  exclude  Greek  influence. 
Greek  customs  were  known,  Greek  names  for  articles  of 
common  use  were  employed,  but  the  vernacular  language 
of  Palestine  and  Syria  was  western  Aramaic.  The  people 
of  the  land  were  familiar  only  with  Aramaic.  In  the 
synagogues  of  Palestine  as  of  Babylon  the  Hebrew  text 
was  paraphrased  into  Aramaic.  Josephus  confesses  he  had 
a  poor  mastery  of  Greek  pronunciation  :  he  also  says  that 
the  Jews  (of  Palestine)  did  not  encourage  the  knowledge 
of  Greek  {Ant.,  xx.  11,  2).  Even  in  Jerusalem  the  people 
understood  Aramaic  better  than  Greek,  as  we  infer  from 
Acts  xxi.  40 ;  xxii.  2.  Titus  summoned  the  people  of 
Jerusalem  to  surrender  in  Aramaic.  In  the  Christian 
church  of  Scythopolis,  in  the  time  of  Diocletian,  it  was 
necessary  to  have  an  official  to  translate  Greek  into 
Aramaic,  and  in  Jerusalem  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century  Greek  was  so  Uttle  understood  that  the  bishop 
required  somebody  to  translate  his  sermons  into  Syrian, 


vm.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  217 

i.e.  Aramaic  :  '  For  the  mass  of  the  people  the  knowledge 
of  Greek  is  not  proved.  In  reahty  one  must  suppose  that 
the  lower  classes  in  Palestine  had  either  no  acquaintance, 
or  only  a  scant  acquaintance,  with  Greek,'  ^  but  Schiirer 
admits  that  this  scanty  knowledge  was  very  widespread. 

On  the  other  hand,  Palestine  was  not  only  surrounded  by 
Hellenism,  but  Hellenism  penetrated  even  into  the  Holy 
Land  and  spread  in  its  capital.  Palestine  was  hemmed 
in  by  Greek  towns  on  the  west  coast,  on  the  north  and  the 
east.  It  contained  Greek  centres  like  Samaria,  Scytho- 
pohs,  Tiberias,  and  Caesarea  Phihppi  on  the  borders. 
Great  commercial  highways  traversed  the  country. 
Palestine  both  before  and  after  the  Hasmoneans  was 
governed  by  rulers  of  Greek  culture.  The  Hellenising 
process  under  the  Seleucids  was  carried  on  successfully, 
and  was  stayed  only  by  the  mad  efforts  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  to  hasten  it.  Even  then  it  was  not  arrested 
by  the  higher  classes  but  by  the  common  folk.  The 
Herodians  again  took  up  the  work  of  Hellenising,  but  the 
native  opposition  to  them,  and  hostiUty  to  the  Roman 
government,  rendered  the  people  by  this  time  exclusive. 
The  higher  classes  spoke  Greek  and  were  famiUar  with 
Greek  culture.  The  Hasmoneans  employed  Greek  and 
Aramaic  on  their  coins,  the  Herodians  and  Romans  only 
Greek  on  the  Judaean  coinage.  In  the  capital  Greek 
must  have  been  more  or  less  famihar  owing  to  the  syca- 
pathy  of  the  leaders,  and  especially  owing  to  the  enormous 
numbers  of  Hellenistic  Jews  visiting  the  festivals,  and 
thousands  of  them  returned  to  spend  their  last  days  under 
the  shadow  of  the  temple.  We  read  (Acts  vi.  9)  of  the 
synagogue  of  '  the  Libertines,  and  of  the  Cyrenians,  and 
of  the  Alexandrians,  and  of  them  of  Cilicia  and  Asia,' 
where  a  synagogue  of  each  is  probably  impUed.  Also 
vast  numbers  of  Greek  proselytes  and  God-fearers  visited 
the  Holy  City.    These  Hellenistic  Jews  and  proselytes 

1  Schiirer,  ii.  84. 


218    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

spoke  Greek  and  must  have  been  people  of  some  substance, 
which  in  itself  would  encourage  others  to  learn  their 
language,  and,  as  before  remarked,  Greek- speaking  people 
obUged  others  to  learn  their  language.  In  Gahlee  of  the 
nations  a  portion  of  the  city  populations  was  undoubtedly 
Greek.  When  Jerome  was  looking  for  a  copy  of  Aquila 
he  could  not  find  one  except  in  a  GaHlean  synagogue.  At 
the  trading  centres  hke  Capernaum  we  must  suppose  that 
Greek  was  familiar.  When  PhiUp  went  down  into  Samaria 
to  preach  Christ,  he  presumably  did  so  in  Greek.  Zahn 
says  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  were  familiar  with 
Greek,  and  Palestine  at  the  Christian  era  had  numerous 
flourishing  towns.  In  the  war  of  Quietus  (al.  Titus)  the 
religious  authorities  forbade  parents  to  give  their  children 
a  Greek  education,  from  which  we  infer  that  such  education 
had  been  common. 


Language  of  Jesus 

What  language  did  our  Lord  speak?  The  question  is 
rather  not  whether  He  could  speak  Aramaic  or  Greek,  but 
which  language  did  He  habitually  speak  ?  While  it  is 
impossible  to  dogmatise,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
Jesus  habitually  used  Aramaic  in  daily  intercourse  with 
His  disciples  and  in  His  public  teaching  and  prayers. 
Jesus  was  counted  '  unlearned '  :  He  was  one  of  the 
people,  and  His  message  was  primarily  to  the  peasant 
class  and  to  the  poor  and  the  little  ones.  He  was  trained 
in  the  seclusion  of  Nazareth,  where  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  any  appreciable  foreign  influence.  A  few  of  His 
original  expressions  are  preserved  to  us  :  His  cry  on  the 
Cross  was  in  the  language  of  His  childhood.  At  such  a 
crisis  one  uses  the  language  that  comes  nearest  the  heart. 
Besides,  the  Synoptic  differences  are  often  expUcable  on 
an  Aramaic  original :  this  argument  in  recent  years  has 
gained  considerably  in  cogency. 


vm.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  219 

Jesus  knew  and  could  use  Greek  when  occasion  required. 
Some  of  His  public  utterances  may  have  been  made  in 
Greek.  When  Jesus  Journeyed  into  a  Greek  region  out- 
side GaUlee  we  read  of  no  interpreter  being  necessary; 
the  Syro-Phoenician  woman,  a  Greek,  imderstood  Him, 
and  He  understood  her.  She  seems  also  to  have  under- 
stood His  conversation  with  His  disciples  which  was  pro- 
bably in  Greek.  A  great  part  of  Jesus'  public  ministry 
was  in  GaUlee,  where  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  town 
populations  must  have  been  Greek,  especially  at  a  customs- 
centre  Uke  Capernaum.  When  certain  Greeks  desired  to 
see  Jesus  He  apparently  required  no  intermediaries.  One 
whose  Gospel  was  intended  for  all  nations  could  hardly  be 
indifferent  to  what  He  must  have  known  to  be  the  universal 
language.  His  trial  before  Pilate  must  have  been  conducted 
in  Greek.  We  shall  not  be  far  wrong  in  saying  that  Jesus 
habitually  used  His  native  Aramaic  in  His  private  devo- 
tions and  pubUc  teaching,  but  could  command  Greek 
when  it  was  necessary,  or  when  He  could  secure  a  better 
hearing. 

Greek  was  the  language  used  at  the  earliest  conversion  of 
Gentiles  (Ethiopian  eunuch  and  ComeUus),  in  Greek  the  first 
mission  was  carried  beyond  Jerusalem  to  Samaria,  in  Greek 
the  Gospel  outgrew  Palestinian  Judaism  and  started  on  its 
world-mission  in  Syria  and  Asia,  in  Greek  the  Gospel  was 
transferred  from  Asia  to  Europe  (PhiUppi,  Thessalonica, 
and  Corinth),  in  Greek  the  Gospel  was  domiciled  in  Rome 
and  the  West;  the  correspondence,  Uterature,  and  Hturgy  of 
the  Roman  Church  for  two  centuries  was  Greek,  its  bishops 
bore  Greek  names  until  towards  the  end  of  the  second 
century ;  the  majority  of  the  catacomb  inscriptions  until 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  are  in  Greek,  not  Latin ; 
in  Greek  the  Gospel  first  migrated  westwards  from  Rome 
to  South  Gaul.  The  Greek  language  was  in  some  way 
aUied  with  the  Gospel :  it  was  a  promise  of  the  universal- 
ism  of  the  Gospel  that  it  adopted  the  imiversal  language 


220    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ca 

— the  language  which  all  races  and  creeds  spoke  or  under- 
stood, and  in  which  the  first  outUnes  of  universal  history 
were  recorded. 

The  Gospel  went  first  where  the  greatest  need  was  felt 
— to  the  eastern  Greek- speaking  half  of  the  Empire. 
This  soil  was  most  fully  prepared.  The  East  had  been 
educated  by  centuries  of  culture  and  had  been  offered 
the  best  that  OrientaUsm,  Judaism,  and  Hellenism  could 
afford.  Its  moral  and  spiritual  capacities  were  greater ; 
it  was  waiting  for  deUverance  in  a  way  unknown  to  the 
barbaric  West.  It  had  been  penetrating  the  secrets  of 
its  own  nature  ;  knowledge  had  brought  disquietude  ;  the 
heart  was  crying  for  sjnnpathy  and  longing  to  find  a 
harmony  above  all  discord.  The  mysteries  of  the  East 
had  nourished  longings  they  could  never  satisfy ;  the  voice 
of  philosophy  was  uncertain.  Where  was  a  Revelation  to 
be  found  ? 

The  Latin  West 

While  the  Gospel  was  being  preached  in  Greek  in  the  East, 
the  Romans  were  preparing  the  way  for  its  extension  to  the 
West.  The  peoples  of  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine,  North- 
western Spain  and  Britain,  were  not  yet  half  civiUsed.  It 
was  the  task  of  Rome  to  make  these  peoples  ready  for 
the  Gospel,  to  furnish  Christianity  with  another  universal 
language,  to  unify,  to  civiUse  and  educate  by  her  law  and 
discipUne  for  the  discipHne  of  the  Gospel.  Hers  it  was, 
too,  in  her  own  senihty  to  hand  over  the  great  tasks  in 
which  she  had  so  signally  succeeded,  and  that  in  which  she 
had  so  egregiously  failed,  to  the  sera  atque  ideo  inexhausta 
juventas  of  the  North.  She  conserved  what  was  best  and 
most  essential  in  the  old  to  bequeath  to  her  historic 
successors.  She  finally  surrendered  her  sceptre  to  the 
Church  to  which  she  had  given  a  language  and  a  polity 
and  a  world-outlook.    The  Vulgate  proved  to  the  West 


vra.]  THE  LANGUAGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  221 

what  the  LXX  had  been  to  the  East ;  it  was  for  hundreds 
of  years  the  only  universal  Bible  of  Europe ;  it  became 
directly  or  indirectly  the  parent  of  all  the  vernacular 
versions  of  Western  Europe  (except  the  Gothic) . 

Thus  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  translated  an  Aramaic 
Gospel  into  universal  languages  for  the  peoples  of  the 
earth. 


222    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN   THE   FULNESS  OF  TIME 

When  the  fulness  of  the  time  came  God  sent  forth  His  son ;  .  .  • 
to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ. 

The  '  fulness  of  the  time '  for  the  Gospel  came  when  Greek  con- 
quered Jew  and  Jew  conquered  Greek,  and  the  world  inherited  the 
legacy  of  their  struggle  through  Roman  hands. — Mahatfy. 

How  were  Pity  understood, 
Unless  by  Pain  ?  Beowning. 

East  and  West  converging         ^ 

Christ  appeared  at  the  time  when  all  the  striving  and  hopes 
of  all  peoples  were  converging  to  a  focus,  when  the  vast 
majority  of  mankind  were  hungering  for  religious  support,^ 
when  East  and  West  had  been  wedded,  when  men  were 
expecting  a  new  era,  when  the  philosophy  of  Greece  and 
the  religious  consciousness  of  the  Hebrew  were  pointing 
toward  a  new  Revelation.  Christ  came  at  the  one  time 
in  history  when  all  civiUsed  nations  Uved,  as  it  were, 
under  one  roof,  when  the  happiness  of  mankind  depended 
on  the  will  of  one,  when  all  were  able  to  communicate  in 

1  'To  raise  religious  need  to  such  a  level  that  the  quickening  impulse 
necessarily  awakens  in  unsatisfied  aspirations,  and  the  mind  becomes  creative, 
was  the  task  of  those  last  two  centuries  B.C.,  which  were  granted  such  scant 
measure  of  earthly  happiness. '— Hausrath  (iV.  T.  Times— Apostles,  i.  34).  '  It 
was  into  no  unspiritual  world  that  the  Christian  religion  came,  but 
a  world  rather  of  seething  hopes  and  dreams  and  premonitory  glimpses. 
These  hopes  the  Gospel  was  to  realise.  But  it  realised  them,  we  may 
believe,  not  by  borrowing  ideas,  or  decking  itself  out  in  ancient  symbols, 
but  by  the  exhibition  of  a  fact  within  the  field  of  history  in  which  were 
more  than  fulfilled  the  inextinguishable  yearnings  of  the  world's  desire.' — 
Mackintosh,  Person  of  Jems  Christ,  p.  533. 


IX.]  IN  THE  FULNESS  OF  TIME  223 

one  language,  when  men  were  unanimous  as  to  the  perils 
and  needs  of  the  world,  when  there  was  peace  on  earth, 
when  there  was  '  one  empire,  one  universal  language,  one 
civihsation,  a  common  development  toward  monotheism, 
and  a  common  yearning  for  saviours.' 


Greatest  Crisis  in  History 

The  advent  of  Christ  synchronised  with  what  is  admittedly 
the  greatest  crisis  in  all  history,  '  the  coming  of  age  of  the 
human  race,'  ^  when  all  that  men  had  struggled  for  during 
long  centuries  seemed  likely  to  disappear  from  earth, 
when  chaos  threatened  to  reassert  its  primeval  reign. 
Never  before  or  since  has  the  world  been  so  utterly 
exhausted  ^  as  at  this  Wendezeit,  after  the  internecine 
Greek  strife,  the  incessant  conflicts  of  the  Diadochi,  the 
rebelhon  of  Oriental  nationalism,  the  bloody  riots  of  the 
Hellenistic  cities,  the  increase  of  mercenaries  and  outlaws 
(ahnost  as  unprincipled  as  the  Crusaders),  the  ruthless 
conquests  and  yet  more  ruthless  civil  wars  of  Rome,  the 
reign  of  terror  under  the  emperors  who  executed  the 
judgment  of  Heaven  upon  the  oHgarchy  that  had  wrought 
more  havoc  than  any  other  single  institution,  the  decima- 
tion of  populations,  the  fearful  increase  of  slavery.  The 
cry  of  the  whole  world  was 

evSiTU)  8'  aynrpov  kokov, 

/iCTai/3oXto  8c  ris  <f>av€tr}y  Ziv  Trore/o,  (k  aWev, 

Many  other  causes,  poUtical,  economic,  social,  were  sapping 
public  and  private  morality  and  undermining  reUgion. 

1  Deigsmann,  New  Light,  p.  78. 

2  If  we  could  imagine  the  exhaustion  of  Germany  after  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  extending  over  the  rest  of  Europe  we  should  have  an  analogy  to  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  closing  Republic,  '  The  general  impression  we  receive 
from  the  records  of  the  New  Testament  is  assuredly  that  they  were  written 
under  a  prevailin'^  sense  of  human  misery.'— Merivale,  Conversion^  p.  88. 


224    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY   [ch. 

The  Greek  city-states  and  Greek  kingdoms  had  pursued 
one  policy — might  is  right.  Violence  had  at  length  in  Rome 
seated  itself  on  the  throne  of  the  world.  Thoughtful  men 
must  have  been  overwhelmed  at  first  with  the  idea  of 
world-empire  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  military  people 
without  education,  culture,  or  religion.  It  seemed  a  worse 
prospect  than  if  modem  Europe  were  to  pass  under 
Russian  absolutism .  The  masses  having  secured  the  upper- 
hand  over  their  oppressors  surrendered  their  rights  to 
absolute  power  in  return  for  partem  et  circenses.  The 
cessation  of  healthy  pubHc  and  political  life  which  had 
engrossed  the  time  and  inspired  the  best  efforts  of  men 
created  a  perilous  vacuum.  Undisciplined  individualism 
asserted  itself.  Forced  labour,  considered  cheaper  than 
free,  created  less  demand  for  free  labour ;  there  was  an 
abnormal  influx  of  free  paupers  into  the  cities  to  Hve  by 
casual  labour  and  on  the  doles  of  imperial  paternalism. 
All  nations  had  failed  to  bear  the  test  of  prosperity  ;  the 
subjects  of  Rome  observed  that  to  gain  the  world  she 
had  lost  her  soul.  The  middle  classes — the  last  strong- 
hold of  a  nation's  virtue  —  had  disappeared.  In  the 
social  upheavals  wealth  passed  from  those  long  used 
to  it  into  new  spendthrift  hands.  There  was  a  mass 
of  paupers  and  a  few  plutocrats.  Latifundia  perdidere 
Italiam,  says  Pliny,  and  the  statement  holds  good  for  most 
of  the  Empire.  Property  was  insecure  because  of  the 
discontent  of  the  masses  and  confiscation.  Bankruptcy 
arising  from  stupid  finance  early  threatened  the  Empire. 
The  provincials  were  oppressed  under  the  Republic  by  the 
iniquitous  exactions  of  the  Roman  oligarchy  and  its 
creatures,  and  under  the  Empire  by  grinding  taxation. 
Terrible  visitations  of  earthquake  in  Asia,  as  in  Antioch, 
Philadelphia,  Rhodes,  caused  much  suffering  and  financial 
insecurity.  The  quiet  and  prosperity  of  the  Flavian  and 
Antonine  eras — the  happiest  period  for  the  old  world — 
were  the  lull  before  the  final  disastrous  storm. 


IX.3  IN  THE  FULNESS  OF  TIME  225 

Opportunity  for  Oriental  Worships 

National  faiths  had  collapsed.  The  West  was  looking 
to  the  East  for  gospels.  This  was  the  opportunity  for  the 
Oriental  cults,  for  the  Great  Mother  and  Attis,  for  Isis  and 
Serapis,  for  the  Syrian  Goddess,  for  Mithras,  for  Judaism, 
and  finally  for  Christianity.  In  the  isolation  and  suffering 
of  the  age  personal  and  rehgious  concerns  were  of  supreme 
moment.  Men  were  earnestly  seeking  a  guide  for  their 
moral  life  and  an  authority  for  the  spirit.  Logic  was  not 
the  only  path  to  knowledge  ;  there  is  a  region  to  be  entered 
only  by  faith,  and  rationalism  was  yielding  to  faith.  The 
elements  of  man's  personahty  were  becoming  more  promi- 
nent ;  the  search  inaugurated  by  Know  Thyself  had  issued 
in  pain.  Precepts  were  too  lifeless  :  *  It  requires  a  new 
dogma,  a  great  revelation,  a  starthng  reform,  to  carry  with 
it  the  weak  and  wavering  masses  of  humanity,  who  have 
not  the  strength  or  the  patience  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation.'  ^  Examples  of  flesh  and  blood  were  demanded 
as  incentives  to  teach  men  to  Uve  and  die.  There  was 
in  Greek  philosophy,  especially  the  post- Aristotelian,  *  an 
ever-growing  tendency  to  personify  the  ethical  ideal.' 

Christianity  offered  a  Synthesis  in  the  Incarnation 

Christianity  brought  a  harmony  for  the  burdensome 
antinomies  of  that  age.  Revelation  confirmed  the  truth 
of  natural  religion  and  reason,  and  added  something 
indispensable.  Christianity  was  the  synthesis  of  and  the 
authority  for  the  truths  proclaimed  by  all  systems.  It 
elevated  the  abstract  monotheism  of  Greece,  the  heno- 
theistic  monotheism  of  Oriental  cults,  the  deistic  mono- 
theism of  Judaism  into  a  universal  spiritual  Fatherhood ; 
it  corrected  abstract  monotheism  by  the  truth  of  poly- 
theism that  the  Godhead  is  not  simple  and  jejune  but    -  - 

1  MahaflFy,  SUver  Age,  p.  399.  7/l/t.^Ct  ^^ ^Jjl 


226    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 

has  in  itself  a  rich  and  manifold  life ;  it  blended  the 
immanence  of  pantheism  with  the  transcendence  of 
scepticism,  mysticism,  and  Hebrew  thought;  it  glorified 
the  human  sympathy  of  Oriental  cults  through  the  historic 
life  and  death  of  a  Man  of  sorrows. 

Christianity  gave  what  the  world  most  needed — the 
driving  power  of  personaHty.  The  Incarnation  of  the 
'  Desire  of  all  nations '  answered  the  universal  question 
of  Seneca :  Ubi  enim  istum  invenies  quern  tot  saecuUs 
quaerimus  ?  '  Where  shall  He  be  found  whom  we  have 
been  seeking  for  so  many  centuries  ?  * 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

{Restricted  to  a  selection  of  the  works  consulted) 

I.  ANCIENT  AUTHORS 

The  chief  ancient  authors  of  importance  for  the  period  here 
covered  are — Plato,  Aristotle  (esp.  Nic.  Ethics  and  Politics), 
Plutarch,  Polybius,  Dio  Chrysostom  (Dindorf  in  Teubner,  2  vols., 
Leipzig,  1857),  Maximus  of  Tyre  (Didot,  Paris,  1840),  Epictetus, 
Aristides  Rhetor  (Dindorf  in  Teubner,  2  vols.,  Leipzig,  1829), 
Musonius  Rufus  (Teubner,  1905),  Josephus,  Philo,  SibyUine  Oracles, 
Justin  Martyr,  Origen  {con.  Ce^m),Clement  of  Alexandria,  Menander, 
Philostratus,  Lucian,  Athenaeus,  Eusebius,  Diogenes  Laertius, 
Gcero,  Horace,  Virgil,  Persius,  Lucan,  Seneca  the  Younger, 
Petronius,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  Martial,  Lucretius,  Caesar  {B.  Civ.), 
Apuleius,  Plautus,  Terence,  Sallust,  Pliny  the  Younger,  Minucius 
Felix,  Marcus  AureHus,  Juvenal. 

Charles,  R.  H.     Apocrypha  and  Psevdepigrapha  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment (Eng.  tr.,  2  vols.,  Oxford,  1913). 
Kautszch,   E.    Die   Apokryphen    u.    Pseudepigraphen    des    A.T. 

(German  tr.,  2  vols.,  Tiib.,  1900). 
Hennecke,    E.     Neutest.    Apokryphen    (German    tr.,    Tiib.    and 

Leipzig,  1904). 
Peeuschen,  E.    Antilegomena  (2nd  ed.,  Leipzig,  1905). 

n.  INSCRIPTIONS,  PAPYRI,  FRAGMENTS,  Etc. 

BoECKH,  A.     Corpus  Inscripiionum  Graecarum,  1828-77. 
Inscriptiones  Graecue,  in  course  of  publication  by  the  Berlin  Academy 

since  1873. 
Corpus  Inscripiionum  Latinarum,  by  Mommsen  and  others  since 

1863. 
Orelli-Henzen.     Inscripiionum    Latinarum    amplissima    collectio 

(3  vols.,  Ziir.,  1828-56). 
Bormann-Henzen-Rossi.    Inscr.  urbis  Romae  Lot.  (vol,  vi.  pt.  1 

and  2  of  C.  I.  L.,  1876). 

127 


228    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 

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1901). 
Lindsay,  W.  M.     Handbook  of  Lat.  Insc.  (London  and  Boston, 

1897). 
Michel,  C.     Recueil  d' inscriptions  grecques  (Brussels,  1900). 
DiTTENBERGER,  W.     Sylloge  iTiscriptionum  Graec.  (2nd  ed.,  3  vols., 

Leipzig,   1898-1901) ;    Orientis  Graeci  Inscr.  selectae  (2  vols., 

Leipzig,  1903-5). 
Reinach,   Th.      Recueil  des  inscript.  juridiques  grecques   (Paris, 

1895-8). 
Kaibel,  G.      Epigrammata  graeca   ex   lapidibus  collecta   (Berlin, 

1878). 
BiJCHELEE,  Fr.    Anthologia  Latina  (metrical  inscr. )  (Leipzig,  1895-7 ). 
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J^tudes  morales  sur  Vantiquite  (Paris,  1883). 
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Mysterienreligionen    (Leipzig,    1910),    Hellenist.    Wundererzdh- 

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Renan,  E.     Marc-Aursle  et  la  fin  du  monde  antique  (Paris,  1882). 
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(Giessen,  1907). 
Uhlhorn,  G.    Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism  (Eng.  tr., 

New  York,  1879). 
Walton,  A.     Cult  of  Asklepios  (Ithaca,  1894). 
Wbnlby,   R.   M.      Preparation  for  Christianity  (Edinburgh  and 

London,  1898). 
Westermarck,  E.    Origin  and  Development  of  the  Moral  Ideas 

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WissowA,  G.    Die  Religion  u.  Mythologie  der  Romer  (2nd  ed.,  Munich, 

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(c)  Philosophy 

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Bigg,  C.     Neoplatonism  (London,  1895). 

BoNHOFFEB,  A.     Efictet  u.  d.  Stoa  (Stuttgart,  1890). 

BussELL,  F.  W.     School  of  Plato  (London,  1896). 

BuTLEB,  W.  A.    History  of  Ancient  Phihsophy  (2  vols.,  London, 
1856). 

Caied,  E.    Evolution  of  Theology  in  the  Greek  Philosophers  (2  vols., 
Glasgow,  1904). 

Deummond,  J.     Philo-Judaeus  or  Jewish- Alexandrian  Philosophy 
(2  vols.,  London  and  Edinburgh,  1888). 

EucKEN,    R.      Lebensanschauungen   d.    grossen   Denker    (Leipzig, 
1890). 

Feeribb,  J.   F.    Lectures  <m  Greek  Philosophy  (Edinburgh  and 
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Hegel,  C.  W.  F.    Philosophy  of  Religion  (Eng.  tr.,  3  vols.,  London, 
1895). 

Pfleideeeb,  0.      Vorhereitung  d.  Christentums  in  d.  griech.  Phil 
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2  vols.,  London,  1897) ;  Socrates  and  the  Socratic  Schools  (Eng. 
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{d)  CXTLTUEE,   SOCLETY,   AtfTIQUrnES 

Abbott,  F.  F.    Common  People  of  Ancient  Rome  (London,  1912). 

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234    THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 

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1910);    Das  Urchristentum  u.  d.  unteren  Schichten  (2nd  ed., 

Gottingen,  1908). 
Dill,  S.     Roman  Society  from  Nero  to  M.  Aurelius  (London,  1904). 
Fowler,  W.  W.     Social  Life  at  Rome  in  the  Age  of  Cicero  (London, 

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1906). 
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Mahaffy,  J.  P.     Hellenism  in  Alexander's  Empire  (Chicago,  1905) ; 

Silver  Age  of  the  Greek  World  (Chicago  and  London,  1906) ; 

Survey  of  Greek  Civilization  (Meadville,  Pa.,  1896) ;   What  have 

the  Greeks  done  for  Modern  Civilization  ?  (New  York  and  London, 

1909). 
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ed.,  New  York,  1894). 
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Bishoprics  of  Phrygia  (2  parts,  Oxford,  1895-97). 
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Grandeur  that  was  Rome  (London,  1912). 
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(London,  1910). 
Wallon,  H.     Hist,  de  VEsclavage  (3  vols.,  Paris,  1847). 
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Philo  u.  die  Kynisch-stoische  Diatribe  (pp.  1-75 :    Wendland- 

Kem,  Beitr.  z.  Gesch.  der  griech.  Phil.  w.  Relig.,  Berlin,  1895). 

(e)  Literature  and  Language 

Christ,  W.     Qesch.  d.  griech.  Lit.  (4th  ed.,  Munich,  1905). 
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New  York,  1904). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  235 

Deissmann,  a.     Bible  Studies  (Eng.  tr.,  Edinburgh,  1901);    art. 

Hdlenistisches  Oriechisch,  in  Herzog-Hauck  *. 
Habnack,  a.      Oesch.  der  altchrist.  Lit.   (2  vols.,   Leipzig,   1893- 

1904). 
Jordan,  H.     Gesch,  d.  altchrist.  Lit.  (Leipzig,  1911). 
Mackail,  J.  W.     Latin  Literature  (London,  1902). 
MouLTON,  J.   H.      Qrammar  of  New  Testament  Greek  (3rd  ed., 

I.  Proleg.,  New  York,  1908). 
NoEDEN,  E.     Antike  Kunstprosa  (2  vols.,  Leipzig,  1898). 
Robertson,  A.  T.     Grammar  of  the  Greek  New  Testament  (New  York 

and  London,  1914). 
ScHWYZER,  E.     Die  Weltsprachen  des  Altertums  (Berlin,  1902). 
Sellar,  W.  Y.     Roman  Poets  of  the  Republic  (3rd  ed.,  Oxford, 

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1891-2). 
Thomson,  J.  E.  H.    Books  which  influenced  our  Lord  (Edinburgh, 

1891). 
Thitmb,  a.    Die  Griech.  Sprache  im  Zeitalter  d.  Hellenismus  (Strass- 

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The  student  need  not  be  reminded  of  general  works  of  reference : 
as  Roscher,  Ausfuhr.  Lexicon  d.  griech.  u.  rom.  Mythologie 
(Leipzig,  1884-1913) ;  Gruppe,  Griech.  Mythologie  (Munich,  1906) ; 
Jewish  Encyclopaedia;  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  Bible;  Encyclo- 
paedia of  Religion  and  Ethics;  Daremberg  et  Saglio,  Diet, 
des  Antiquites;  Herzoq-Hauck,  Real-Encyc.^ ;  Pauly-Wissowa, 
Real-Encyc.  d.  klas.  Altertumswiss.  (1892-  ) ;  Religion  in  Geschichte 
u.  Gegenwart  (ed.  by  Schiblx). 


INDEX 


Abortion,  47. 
Adam,  J.,  123. 

Mrs.  J.,  99. 

Alabarch,  149. 

Alexander  the  Great,  7  S.,  13,  22,  33, 

86. 
Amphitheatre,  42. 
Anaxagoras,  96,  176,  180. 
Angus,  S,,  140,  198,  211. 
Anti-Semitism,  148  ff. 
Apollonius  of  Tyana,  76,  130. 
Apotheosis,  85  ff. 
Apuleius,  2,  93,  112. 
Aramaic,  209  f.,  214,  216,  218. 
Aratus,  66. 
Aristides,  11. 
Aristotle,  47,  48,  52,  96,  103,  115, 

124,  164,  170,  184  f. 
Art,  11,  28. 
Arnold,  M.,  72,  111,  140,  165. 

W.  T..205. 

Asceticism,  90  ff.,  123  f. 

Atellan  farce,  42. 

Augustine,  44,  68,  69,  80,  140,  183, 

216. 
Augustus,  18,  43, 46  f..  54,  84, 87, 135, 

147,  196,  199. 
Aulus  Gellius,  14. 
Aurelius,  Marcus,  11,  55,  73,  81, 107, 

113  f. 
Authority,  70,  114  ff.,  154. 
Autobiography,  29. 

Bath,  14. 
Baths,  14. 
Bauer,  B.,  2. 
2M 


Beloch,  38. 
Beurlier,  E.,  85,  88. 
Bible,  V.  Septuagint. 
Biography,  29,  82. 
Birth-rate,  32,  34,  46 
Books,  18. 
Book-selling,  18. 
BroAvning,  186,  222. 
Bultmann,  R.,  74. 
Bussell,  F.  W.,  61,  80,  119. 
Butcher,  S.  H.,  140f.,  173  f. 
Butler,  W.  A.,  176. 

Caesar,  Julius,  7  f.,  21,  43,  50,  60, 

86,  104,  135,  197  f. 
Caird,  E.,169,  174,189,191. 
Campbell,  L.,  132. 
Caligula,  2,  79. 
Catullus,  14,  16,  104, 112. 
Character,  114. 
Charles,  R.  H.,26f. 
Children,  40,  46  f.,  67  f. 
Cicero.  10,  14,  16,  52,  54,  60  f.,  64, 

85,  99,  104, 106  f.,  116, 125, 128  ff., 

148,  ly/,  199,  213. 
City-state  {polis),  25,  30,    63,  110, 

113,  171. 
Claudian,  64. 
Claudius,  43,  53, 150. 
Cleanthes,  66,  126, 131. 
Comedy,  41. 
Comforts,  14. 
Commerce,  20. 

Conway,  Professor,  131,  137  f. 
Consolatio  literature,  105  f.,  129  ff. 
Cosmopolitanism,  v.  Universalism. 


INDEX 


237 


Crisis  in  history,  51,  223. 
Cult,  imperial,  85  f. 
Cynics,  11,  63,  75flf.,180f. 
Cyrenaics,  181. 


Dkissmann,  a.,  U,  23,  48,  181,  134, 

159,  209,  223. 
Delos,  22. 
Demetrius,  76,  79. 
Democracy,  31,  91,  133,  202  f. 
Demosthenes,  44,  169. 
Denis,  J.,  30,  66,  110,  116. 
Dentistry,  14, 
Deterioration,  5,  134. 
Diadochi,  20,  31. 
Diaspora,  24,  143  fif.,    154,   158  f., 

214. 
Dill,S.,12,  90,  105. 
Dio  Cassius,  156. 
Dio  Chrysostom,  11,  53,  59,  70,  76  f., 

129. 
Directors,  moral,  78  f. 
Divorce,  15,  46. 
Ddllinger,  J.  J.  I.,  51. 
Domitian,  44,  77,  87. 
Dualism,  93,  98,  101, 118  f.,  121, 176, 

181ff.,184,  191,  192f. 


EcLBCTics,  Eclecticism,  116,  189  f. 

Economic  conditions,  32  ff. ,  39  f . 

Ecstasy,  119  ff.,  191  S. 

Education,  17,  162  f.,  164,  172. 

Egypt,  7,  24,  85. 

Eleatics,  175  f. 

Emerson,  114. 

Emotionalism,  111. 

Epicurus,  Epicureanism,  50,  52,  59, 

73,  96  f.,  103,  115,  125,  187  f. 
Epictetus,  11,  56,  58.  66,  76  f.,  81, 

82,  100, 107,  114, 125. 
Euripides,  55. 
Evolution,  4. 
Examples,  moral,  81  f. 
Exposition  (of  children),  48. 


Faibbaibn,  a.  M.,  1. 
Faith,  97. 
Farrar,  J.  A.,  2. 
Fate,  69  f.,  96,127. 
Favorinus,  68. 
Forsyth,  P.  T.,  143. 
Foucart,  61. 
Foundlings,  47,  49. 
Fowler,  W.  W.,  28,  111. 
Frederick  the  Great,  7. 
Friedlander,  L.,  96. 
Froude,  J.  A.,  11. 

Geddes,  103. 

Gibbon,  38,  69. 

God,  83,  94  ff.,  121,  191  f. 

'God-fearers,'  157  f. 

Gladiators.  40,  42f.,54f. 

Gracchi,  33  f. 

Greeks,  v.  ch.  vi.  and  viii.  passim, 

Haknack,  a.,  184,  160,  204. 

Hatch,  E.,  95. 

Hausrath,  A.,131,  159,  222. 

Hebrew,  v.  Jew. 

Hegel,  128,  194  f. 

Hellenistic  literature.  16. 

Hellenism,  17,  63, 173,  202,  217. 

Herculaneum,  18. 

Hermetic  literature,  117. 

Hdairai,  44  f.,  50. 

Hippocrates,  57. 

Horace,  16,  71,  80,  87,  104,  137,  150, 

156,  187,  190,  213. 
Hot-air  system,  14  f. 


Idleness,  35. 
Immortality,  101  ff.,  K 
Incarnation,  88,  225  f. 
Individualism,   10,  17, 

111,  116,  178,  199. 
Infanticide,  48  f. 
Inge,  W.  R.,  119. 
Inscriptions,  71,  104, 

204,  215. 


f.,  182. 


25,  30,  101, 


135,  149,  196, 


238      THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 


Intermediaries,  121  S.,  191,  192. 

Inwardness,  79,  113. 

Ionic  school,  175. 

Isis,  89,  93,  189. 

Isocrates,  55,  109. 

Israel,  v.  Jew. 

Jebb,  R.  C,  171. 

Jerome,  111,  218. 

Jesus,  language  of,  218. 

Jevons,  F.  B.,  108. 

Jew,  V.  ch,  V.  passim  ;  also  63,  83  f. , 

89,  101,  126  f.,  129. 
Jong,  de,  K.  H.  E.,118. 
Josephus,  22,  139,  144,  146,  155  f., 

216. 
Judaeo-Greek  philosophy,  190  f. 
Justin  Martyr,  116,  213. 
Juvenal,  2,  10,  124,  150,  156,  214. 

Kakkst,  J.,  128,  135. 

Keim,  Th.,  139. 

Kennedy,  H.  A.  A.,  24, 119,  214. 

Kilpatrick,  T.  B.,  178. 

Kohler,  Rabbi,  142. 

Koini,  210  f. 

Lanquagb,  v.  ch.  viii. 

Latin,  211,  220. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  32,  44.  65. 

Lehniann,  E.,  119. 

Leibnitz,  168. 

Leo,  Pope,  184. 

Libraries,  14  f.,  17  f. 

Livy,  73,  118,  131. 

Logos,  122  f.,  191. 

Love,  55. 

Lucian,  11,  59. 

Lucretius,    11,    16,    73,    103,     105, 

188, 
Luxuries,  34. 

Mackintosh,  H.  R.,  222. 
Magic,  23,  118. 
Magna  Mater,  89,  109. 


Mahaify,  J.  P.,  9,  41,  45,  212,  222, 

225. 
Manilius,  100. 
Marriage,  15 ;  v.  Women. 
Martial,  150. 
Maximus  of  Tyre,  11,  60,  76,  95,  107, 

124  f. 
Mayor,  J.  B.,  138. 
Mcnander,  40,  72. 
Mercenaries,  20. 
Merivale,  C,  64, 126,  154,  223. 
Messianic  hope,  117,  136  flF.,  142. 
Middle  classes,  35,  54,  199. 
Mill,  J.  S.,  77. 
Milligan,  G.,  49. 
Mimes,  13. 
Mimus,  42. 
Mithra,  89,  109. 
Missionary  activity,  83,  91,  163  f , 

159. 
Modernness,  12  ff. 
Monism,  176,  181. 
Monotheism,  83,  94  f.,  225. 
Morality,    36   ff.,    52,    60   f.,    63, 

67.  114,  132,   153  f.,  and  ch.  iii. 

passim. 
Musonius  Rufus,  11,  57,  76. 
Mysteries,  107,  108  f. 
Mysticism,    93,    112,    118   ff.,    175, 

190. 

Napoleon,  8. 
Neander,  117. 

Neo-Platonism,  117,  119,  192  f. 
Neo-Pythagoreanism,  117,  119.  190. 
Nero,  2,  15,  44,  53,  76,  87. 
Nonconformists.  89. 
Norden,  E.,  74,  119  f. 

Obermann,  105. 

Oligarchy,  31,  34,  133,  199  f.,  203. 

Oriental  peril,  8,  173,  201. 

Orphism,  82,  102  ff ,  119  ff ,  124. 

Orr,  J.,  134. 

Ovid,  55,  114,  130. 

Ostraca,  18. 


INDEX 


230 


P AIDER ASTI Ay  47,  49  f . ,  59. 

Papyri,  11,  15,  17,  48,  150. 

Paul,   62,  65  f.,  99,   156,  160,  213, 

216. 
Persius,  10,  73,  124. 
Pessimism,  72,  165  f. 
Petronius,  10,  54,  150. 
Pfleiderer,  0.,  176,  180. 
Philip  (of  Macedon),  7. 
Philo.  17,  119  f.,  123,  138,  146,  152, 

159. 
Philosophy,  v.  ch.  vi. 
Philostratus,  11. 
Physicists,  176. 
Pindar,  102. 
Plato,  48,  59,  61,  70,  80,  95,  99  f., 

102flF.,lll,  115,  119f.,  124f.,161, 

165,  181  ff.,  192  f. 
Plautus,  40  f. 
Pliny  (senior),  104,  224. 

(junior),  55,  56. 

Plotinus,  191,  192  f. 

Plutarch,  6,  14,  55,  57,  59.  63,  76, 

80,  82  f.,  93,  105  f.,  130,214. 
Polis,  V.  City-state. 
Polybius,  18. 
Pompeii,  13  f.,  195. 
Popular  activity,  74  flF.,  91,  133. 
Porphyry,  74. 
Prayer,  124  ff.,  152,  154. 
Preaching,  74  ff. 
Programmes,  13. 
Proselytes,  156  f. 
Prostitution,  59. 
Providence.  95  ff. 
Publilius  Syrus,  42,  125. 
Purves,  G.  T.,  122  f. 

Quietus,  218. 
Quintilian,  58,  107,  150. 

Ramsay,  W.  M.,  5,  135,  137  f. 
Redemption,  v.  Salvation. 
Religion,  v.  ch.  iv.  passim. 
Renan,  E.,  68. 
Resignation,  127. 


Revelation,   115  ff.,    120,   154,  159, 

190,  222  ff. 
Roman(s),  v.  ch.  vii. ;  16,  21,  28,  63, 

84  f.,  89. 
Romanes,  J.  G.,  143. 
Rohde,  E.,  119  f. 

Sallust,  104,  195. 

Salmond,  S.  D.  F.,  103. 

Salvation,  83  f.,  100  f.,  134  ff.,  179, 

182,  186,  188,  191. 
Saviours,  135.  223. 
Scepticism,  177,  188  f. 
Schmidt,  H.,  126. 
Schiirer,  E.,  139,  155,  215,  217. 
Self-analysis,  80  f. 
Sellar,  E.  Y.,  16,29,  41. 
Seneca,  3,  46,  49,  53  f.,  56,  58,  60, 

66,  73,  79,  81,  89,  97  f.,  99,  106, 

112,  116,  125,  127  f.,  130,  131  f., 
140,  150,  156,  226. 

Septuagint,  117,  136,  138  f.,  158  ff., 

215. 
Serapis,  89. 
Sextius,  81. 

Sibylline  Books,  138  f.,  146,  155. 
Simplicius,  100, 
Sin,  84,  130  ff 
Slavery,  35,  37  ff.,  52  ff. 
Society,  13  ff.,  28,  30ff.,32. 
Socrates,  44,  59,  61,  80,  82,  102  f., 

113,  115,  178  f.,  180  f. 
Sophists,  28,  176  f. 
Sophocles,  50. 

Soul,  100  f.,  182,  187  f. 

Stage.  41,  48. 

Statius,  64. 

Stobart,  J.  C,  15. 

Stoicism,   52,   61,    63,   96,   97,  103, 

113  f.,  124,  186  f. 
Street-preachers,  11. 
Suetonius,  49,  118,  189. 
Suicide,  51,  197. 
Suffering,  17,  29,  66,  71,  97,  127  ff., 

142,  223  f. 
Supernatural,  118. 


240     THE  ENVIRONMENT  OF  EARLY  CHRISTIANITY 


Synagogue,  27,  148,  150  ff.,  153  flf. 

215. 
Syncretism,  23  f.,  90,  94,  190. 


Tacitus,  10,  53,  58,  105,  118,  138, 

150. 
Taurobolium,  109. 
Teachers,  17. 
Tennyson,  121,  176. 
Terence,  40  f. 
Tertullian,  49. 
TeufTel,  W.  S.,  42. 
Thucydides,  170. 
Thumb,  A.,  211. 
Tiberius,  43,  54,  87. 
Timgad,  14,  15,  18,  71,  198. 
Titus,  43,  216. 
Trajan,  15,  77, 148. 
'Trusts,' 34. 
Turia,  55. 


Universalism,  19  f.,  25,  81,  83,  91, 
110,  205. 


Valerius  Maximus,  82. 

Varro,  82. 

Vespasian,  89,  148. 

Vice,  15.  49,  59  f. 

Virgil,  16,  64,  68,  85,  87,  101,  113, 

131  f.,  137  f.,  197,  204. 
Vulgate,  220. 

Wab,  31. 

Weiss,  J.,  185. 

Wendland,  P.,  6,  135f. 

Wenley,  R.  M.,  179. 

West,  A.  F.,  29. 

Women,  13  f.,  32  f.,   44,   49,    55, 

112. 
Wordsworth,  183. 

Xenophanes,  1,  94,  99,. 
Xenophon,  52,  59,  103,  114. 

Zahit,  Th.,  216,  218. 

Zeller,   E.,  24,  116,   117,   176,   190, 

191. 
Zumpt,  38. 


Date  Due 


2V 


h,""  tife^oug'i 


E»f-v^-^- 


*|Mc^rr^ 


fAGSfc^f^ 


MY  3- -54 


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JAM  \^0 


